tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18666065217584875292017-12-01T02:53:37.980-08:00Anything Can BeAimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-83052813507005403812017-04-04T11:33:00.001-07:002017-04-04T11:45:16.160-07:00An Epilepsy Update<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Obviously I've been woefully negligent of this poor little blog. Life has found a balance of normal for us around the hydrocephalus, as many hydro moms told me it would when we were diagnosed. Days go by where we don't think about Addie's shunt or use the word hydrocephalus in conversations. We are thankful that we have the luxury of time behind us and hindsight and adjustment to what has truly become our new norm. </span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Addie is in school (private kinder) and loves it. We decided at the beginning of this school year to repeat her in Kinder for a myriad of reasons but the main one being she is a young 5 yo with a May birthday and considering the rough start to life she had over the first few months after she was born, she's really more like a September baby so holding her back made sense on a lot of levels. We are realistic that more time will not mean her delays will magically erase themselves but we do believe that giving her a rock solid kinder readiness skill set will only benefit her in the academic hurdles that await her as she grows up.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">The most frequent flyer doctor we've seen over the last two years has been her neurologist. We actually changed neurologists in August of last year and love our new doc. Which is a good thing because I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of time with him. Addie's seizures have been quite stubborn over the last year and half. She had been having headaches -- about two a month -- that we finally connected to being post ictal migraines after a prolonged over night seizure we were missing. Addie's seizures are quiet and she doesn't move a lot with them so they are incredibly hard to detect on seizure monitors. We increased her existing med (a process that took quite a while because she was still&nbsp;on the same dose that she had been on for two years)&nbsp;that she had been taking since she was first diagnosed and had 6 weeks of seizure control. No migraines, no seizures. We were thrilled. Until November 1, 2015 when she fell off her bar stool, hit her head, and immediately began vomiting. We took her to the ER for a CT and in the process she was up past her bedtime by a number of hours. This, we would later realize, was a big rock in her seizure pond and caused ripples that took a while to calm back down in her brain. Addie's seizures are incredibly related to sleep. 99% of them occur while either falling asleep or waking up. When we had the ER visit, we inadvertently triggered a round of seizures that neuro added another med to her regime to counteract. Hindsight being what it is, that was probably the wrong decision. He assumed (and I feared) &nbsp;her epilepsy suddenly got worse when we really should have looked at the fall and sleep deprivation as an event to let her recover from before adding more meds. </span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Fast forward to now after&nbsp;a year of tracking seizures: seeing increased seizure activity,&nbsp;seeing changed seizure activity, and seeing six week 'honeymoon' phases before her seizures would return. We are now looking at beginning testing to see what else we can do for her seizures. On one hand -- &nbsp;we realize how blessed we are that Addie is averaging&nbsp; just 2 seizures a month when I know so many children who battle hundreds a day. But we are also to the point that we know we have to look at <i>Addie's </i>quality of life and trying to get her seizures under control more than they are would 100% be better for her. Plus if there's a chance she's on the wrong type of meds for her seizures or if the meds themselves are causing some of the issues (which is what we suspect with the second med she's on), we would be remiss not to investigate it, no matter how scary.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot;;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">So after today's neuro appt., her new neurologist (have I mentioned how much we love him?!) wants a five day in patient EEG where she will wear a back pack that transmits the EEG data and she can be up and moving around and playing and then sleeping (the biggie) in the hospital. The hope is to capture some great data to see what is really going on in her brain when she has a seizure. He suspects (as do I) that the type of seizures she's having are not what the medicine she is on is designed to treat. This would also be the first step toward testing for epilepsy surgery should be elect to go down that path in the future. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">I felt it was time to resurrect her blog for now as we may have some big updates to share with family in the following weeks and months and did not want them to come out of no where!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">She's our miracle girl and the light of our lives and we are so honored to be her family. Hoping and praying this is the right next step for her journey. </span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MkuY_1Zj3SU/WOPktF_7OwI/AAAAAAAAJX4/qmS-OCRMMV0eEDrRLppIBWouhPi0Ln2KgCLcB/s1600/IMG_0457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MkuY_1Zj3SU/WOPktF_7OwI/AAAAAAAAJX4/qmS-OCRMMV0eEDrRLppIBWouhPi0Ln2KgCLcB/s320/IMG_0457.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-50603004057427627092015-06-19T08:41:00.000-07:002015-06-19T10:00:13.342-07:00Another year goes by<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Obviously I have been woefully neglecting Addie's blog. This is mostly a good news thing. We have been crazy busy and she's been doing well!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Addie did not qualify for sped services last year when we had her evaluated at 3. Which was a good problem to have, we were so thankful that she was doing well. But it was also a challenge to find a preschool that was excited to have her be a part of their community. Most schools saw her as a list of medical issues and didn't see a child that needed a helping hand in her development, which is really what education should be for every child. We finally found a wonderful school that w</span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">elcomed her with open arms. We will forever be grateful to the school that did see her as a child ready to learn and not just a scary list of medical terms. However, after &nbsp;getting to see her in a school environment for six months, I started seeing the things she was struggling with at her preschool (a lot of visual things, attention span, and fine motor). I requested another eval when she turned four, and was able to give them a list of things that we were seeing in a school environment to check into. I am thrilled to say she qualified and will be receiving services at the same school our boys go to. I realize this may sound really odd... being happy my child qualified for special education services, but when you have a kiddo like Addie, all you want is what is best for THEM. And that definitely involves celebrating all the things they CAN do. But... you also have to advocate for them and help people understand the things they struggle with. Addie is a complex case, and I am a firm believer in the more help she can get, the better. We are super excited that she will be getting OT, PT and vision services in the fall. We found out the good news the day before she turned 4 so it was a great birthday present for her and for me!</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bdlQ7uvjVQs/VYQ2HJdiv0I/AAAAAAAAJQY/6dfU7zKWHO0/s1600/IMG_7601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bdlQ7uvjVQs/VYQ2HJdiv0I/AAAAAAAAJQY/6dfU7zKWHO0/s320/IMG_7601.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She requested a domino cake! lol She loves playing with dominoes.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She saw Dr. George in early May for her one year follow up, and I had to snap our traditional picture with him. I think she likes him as much as her mom does!</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mqa36s38Vwk/VYQ24M-h6RI/AAAAAAAAJQo/qIa8JYFYbX0/s1600/IMG_7408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mqa36s38Vwk/VYQ24M-h6RI/AAAAAAAAJQo/qIa8JYFYbX0/s320/IMG_7408.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In other news, we finally reached the point of surgery with her left leg. Her contracture had gotten so bad that she was walking on her toes so high that her ankle was collapsing and twisting with every step. The theory is that because of her left hemi, she's weak in her left core and left quadricep. That causes her to hyperextend her knee. Which she compensates for by popping up her left food up on her toes. The more she toe walked, the shorter her calf muscles got because she wasn't extending them &nbsp;to keep them stretched as her bones grew. She had a gastroc soleus recession on May 12th to release the contracture and let her tendons relax again. She has been rocking a purple cast since.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7T7CrxvKd9Y/VYQ2eKJMnfI/AAAAAAAAJQg/vwaLoz-H-kU/s1600/IMG_7500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7T7CrxvKd9Y/VYQ2eKJMnfI/AAAAAAAAJQg/vwaLoz-H-kU/s320/IMG_7500.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thankfully, the cast comes off next Thursday and we will be walking straight down the hall to have her new AFO put on. &nbsp;I am cautiously excited to see how she walks after the surgery. She actually RAN the other day, cast and all. I've never seen her run before. It was pretty awesome.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As far as the rest of us... we are all doing well. Grayson rocked 6th grade this year -- all As and made honor band for next year. Jackson loves school and received the citizenship award for his class for the year. He is quite the rule follower.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Adam is working as hard as ever. We were able to take a little getaway just the two of us last week thanks to my mom and sister. It's never easy to leave Addie but we know that making time for ourselves is super critical with everything we have going on.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am in my next to last semester of grad school! with plans to student teach in next spring. Ideally, I will be able to start teaching full time the same semester that Addie starts KINDERGARTEN!!! Whoa... Hopefully I can update this blog again before her first day of kinder haha.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-39541467018456163942014-06-14T18:55:00.002-07:002015-06-19T08:45:18.028-07:00And just like that...She's Three.<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our baby is three years old. Holy cow!! I can't believe it!! She's such a blessing. She's truly an amazing kid.... a handful but an amazing kid!</span><br /><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We kept it low key this year.... no party! Easier on me and she didn't seem to mind. We celebrated a few days early at a Tex Mex restaurant, with mom, dad, Aunt Missy plus our five. She got to wear the big sombrero and was sung to which she loved. We had a small cake and her favorite meal of 'Chickafila' (all one word) on her actual birthday.</span><br /><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For her birthday, we got the internet fixed to the DirecTv box so she could watch YouTube videos on the TV. It had been out since Spring Break when we rearranged furniture and accidentally knocked out the connection in our bedroom. Oops! She loves the Wiggles but really loves to watch them on the big TV and not just on my phone, so she was super psyched to get the Wiggles "for her birthday". What more could a three year old want for their birthday?! Haha!</span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t1.0-9/10312416_10203988891150876_4501253728742435577_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She was in a cast over &nbsp;nearly five weeks, including on her birthday. She's such a trooper! We started serial casting at the end of April to try to stretch out her ankle and get range of motion back. I'm happy to report that we had great success with it. She got about 50 degrees back and is into dorsaflexion again. She's walking flat footed again on her left foot. Yay! We have a follow up with her physiatrist in August and a new patient appt with an orthopedic surgeon to just have her evaluated and have one on stand by for the future as well.&nbsp;</span><br /><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We saw Dr. G, her neurosurgeon, at the end of May. It's always so great to see him. Addie asked him his name and he told her and then asked her name and she said "My name is Addie Chapman" which was super cute. They sat and high fived and fist bumped and blew it up the whole time he and I talked. Her scans looked good - stable for her and we again have a one year follow up for May of 2015. WOO HOO! Thank you Lord!&nbsp;</span><br /><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie is starting preschool in the fall. This is going to be a huge transition, mainly for me! HA! But we are excited about it and feel good about where she's enrolled. I think Addie is more than ready. We went and toured the school and Addie wanted to stay at school when it was time to leave. It was sweet. It's going to be scary to leave her for the first time, but I think it's going to be a great thing for her development.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Summer break is upon us! Grayson is officially a middle schooler and Jack is out of kinder! We are so far enjoying a low key summer! We hope it stays that way! We have a trip planned later in the summer to go visit Adam's family and that's about it. School will be back in session before we know it, with FOUR of us in school it should be an adventure!!</span></div></div></div>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-73790247196878570852014-03-03T19:23:00.000-08:002015-06-19T08:45:47.838-07:00Time MARCHes on...<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks to a little winter weather advisory, classes were cancelled tonight so I am gonna take advantage and update a little bit on what's been going on. Addie had her last eye surgery follow up in January. I had noticed that Addie's right eye had started crossing in again just the week prior. So now not only is she drifting up vertically but she's back to crossing in again. Dr. R point blank told me that she is the most complex case of estropia she has ever seen. Way to be an overachiever Addie!! ;) Dr. R feels like she's crossing in to accommodate for her somewhat farsightedness ... sound familiar? This was the diagnosis we had originally back in March of 2012. So Addie was written a new script for glasses and we are going to try that again. I feel a little bit like we are starting all over again. Like maybe by removing the muscle segment that we did to correct that last 20% deviation it re-weakened her eye all over again and now the 6th Nerve Palsy is pulling her eye in again. I voiced my mom theory to Dr. R and she said that it's possible but that generally that would mean it would be pulling in gradually and not intermittently crossing in. But with Addie, who rarely fits any textbook case, she wouldn't take anything off the table.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JFOMohwcQdo/UxaWthBTRYI/AAAAAAAAJHE/trTLgFvA-To/s1600/IMG_9196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JFOMohwcQdo/UxaWthBTRYI/AAAAAAAAJHE/trTLgFvA-To/s1600/IMG_9196.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Crossing in to focus on the camera. It doesn't happen all the time but when it does, it does !</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We got her glass script filled and she's pretty darn cute in her glasses --maybe even cuter this time than the last -- and the amazing thing is she wears them. She asks for them. So maybe they are helping her see. But I can't tell that they are helping with the eye cross all that much. Yes, it's helping her not cross when she's trying to focus but it's not helping the cross all the time. So I feel like we may be looking at another round of Botox, basically starting all over on the 6th Nerve Palsy diagnosis (where the stronger muscle pulls the weaker muscle over). We are scheduled to see Dr. R again next week so it should be an interesting appointment. Addie asks to go see her all the time. It's really sweet. And very telling that she is the most frequent doc on our roster.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-glfXFVyFBp0/UxaW9QoXA4I/AAAAAAAAJHM/MJPbEJpOMnE/s1600/IMG_9692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-glfXFVyFBp0/UxaW9QoXA4I/AAAAAAAAJHM/MJPbEJpOMnE/s1600/IMG_9692.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaking of other docs, she's scheduled to see her neurologist tomorrow for a six month follow up. That is if the weather behaves. Doctors' offices around here follow the local school schedules so if we have any school delays, the appointment will be rescheduled. Thankfully it is just a follow up and they can call in any refills if we do have to reschedule. If we do have to reschedule, this will make the third doctor's appointment we've had cancelled for ice days ... Crazy weather we've had this winter!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr. N is also on the schedule for next week for her Botox follow up for her leg (rescheduled from early February). We didn't see any improvement at all with the Botox on her leg so her PT has suggested serial casting and is going to email Dr. N and see what she thinks of that option. I am excited about the option if it works. The idea is a new cast every week, like a semi-permanent AFO that she would wear around the house with a boot over it so she could walk in the cast. Hopefully, wearing it for a full week would stretch her leg/ankle out and then we would re-cast weekly at that new stretched position, and repeat weekly, getting a better stretch each week, hoping to get back range of motion in her ankle. Her tiptoe walking on her left foot has gotten a lot worse. She used to barely get up on tiptoes and now she's walking like she's in a stiletto and she's falling a lot more. Thankfully the AFO helps but the goal is to get range of motion back and to prevent contractures and her left leg getting shorter than the right. Botox in her leg may be something we try again but I am hoping we can try the casting as an option first. The cast is removable for bathing so that's a plus!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WDgQ8pDqO_I/UxaXY34RKMI/AAAAAAAAJHU/nkrxiGMC3z4/s1600/IMG_8660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WDgQ8pDqO_I/UxaXY34RKMI/AAAAAAAAJHU/nkrxiGMC3z4/s1600/IMG_8660.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Her AFO</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In other news, Addie's pre-school eval is scheduled for March 25th which is crazy!! She just turned 33 months old!! WOW!! &nbsp;The big 3 is right around the corner! I am excited about the pre-school eval and hope that we can get the services set up for next year that we are wanting. We plan to continue clinical PT through Dell. We really like the facility and all they can offer there and she really likes her PT. She asks to go see Erin all the time. As she gets older and can follow instruction better, I feel like she will be going more than just weekly. Pre-school, however, is really going to be an awesome thing for Addie. She asks to go to school all the time. I think the social aspect will be great for her and we are hoping she can receive other services through the school as well, like speech and OT. I will definitely update the blog when I know what her IEP goals are!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-14865584436250637572014-01-02T14:06:00.003-08:002014-03-05T07:57:20.070-08:00Wrapping up 2013 <span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Oh my</span>. I can't even begin to make excuses for this poor little blog of mine. Needless to say, blogging wasn't on the top of my to do list enough throughout 2013. And sadly, I don't know that 2014 is going to be much different. The good news part of this means there hasn't been a lot of medical news to report for Addison and that is just awesome.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She had another round of Botox on her right eye to further release the contraction from her Sixth Nerve Palsy on September 5th. Her eye didn't react nearly as severely this round so we didn't get the crazy floating up into her head or way over to the left which was good. Her ophthalmologist said she only has a 20% deviation in her horizontal alignment after the two rounds of Botox which is pretty amazing. We went ahead and scheduled strabismus surgery for December 5th and managed to coordinate with her physical rehab doctor to do a round of Botox in her left leg (for her spasticity from hemiparesis) at the same time to take advantage of her being under general anesthesia. It worked great! Her eye surgery was a little more involved than just Botox injections. Dr. R moved her eye horizontally by 6 mm to correct the horizontal alignment hopefully once and for all. She debated up until the last minute if she was going to try to adjust her vertical alignment or continue to watch it. She had questioned if there was really an issue like Fourth Nerve Palsy or if she was just continuing to overreact to Botox -- the theory being she was just really sensitive and the Botox traveled down to a muscle it shouldn't have and weakened it, allowing an upward drift. Up until the very last minute before surgery she was waffling back and forth whether or not to try to correct her vertically or not but decided not to. Her logic, and I agreed, was that it's better to slowly correct each muscle a little bit at a time than to over correct her needlessly.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She was in the OR for about an hour, then recovery for another hour, and we still were able to get her home only an hour past nap time. &nbsp;She slept for about four hours that afternoon which is about double her normal nap time but she woke up in a great mood and seemed to handle any discomfort fine. She's such a trooper!!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ckpL-sQZFlY/UsXf5jg7hkI/AAAAAAAAJGA/EnlN49KYYxE/s320/IMG_7854.JPG" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Discharged and ready to go home</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ckpL-sQZFlY/UsXf5jg7hkI/AAAAAAAAJGA/EnlN49KYYxE/s1600/IMG_7854.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Her leg is still really tight and so far we've seen no improvement from the Botox in her leg. Dr. N does a low dose to start with and it seems to not have affected her tightness at all so we will most likely be doing a second round of Botox for her left leg as soon as we can--you have to space Botox out at least every 3 months.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At her follow up with Dr. R for her eye surgery, as soon as we got back in the next day, Dr. R saw vertical drift. &nbsp;So we are chemical patching again and may be looking at a second eye surgery this year. It's back to a wait and see approach. The great news is that her horizontal alignment looks awesome. And there are some kids that have intermittent vertical deviation that never require surgery and that may just be the case with Addison. She's come a long way with her eye alignment and I am definitely glad we are correcting her slowly and cautiously than risk over correcting a problem we aren't even sure is there.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--ATnLFmH4bk/UsXgawxZ_OI/AAAAAAAAJGI/W-Zn4CJZKoI/s320/IMG_7869.JPG" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Two days post op</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--ATnLFmH4bk/UsXgawxZ_OI/AAAAAAAAJGI/W-Zn4CJZKoI/s1600/IMG_7869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F4VKFBZd8CI/UsXg1BiZW0I/AAAAAAAAJGQ/EobyOxKHdwI/s320/IMG_7965.JPG" height="213" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">One week post op</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie's still receiving her PT at Dell Children's. She's been bumped down to once a month for now. She's in this gray area between being young enough for her physical therapist to manipulate her leg for her but not quite old enough to follow directions to "walk on a treadmill with a weight on her ankle for five minutes" and understand why she's having to do it, so that's going to be quite a change for us. Her neurology follow up in September went great, Dr. K is "thrilled" and doesn't want us back for another follow up til March! We just had another AFO fitting and she seems to like her new brace. She is constantly trying to put it on herself and on everyone else in the household for that matter.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The boys are both loving school! Jack is rocking Kindergarten and Grayson is definitely enjoying being the big man on campus as a fifth grader. We made it back to Disney in November and it was a wonderful trip!!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-97r6N6cVmQ0/UsXmVtEEUZI/AAAAAAAAJG0/1aco7lDubY8/s1600/IMG_7069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-97r6N6cVmQ0/UsXmVtEEUZI/AAAAAAAAJG0/1aco7lDubY8/s320/IMG_7069.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We had wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks as a family, spending time in the Hill Country with my extended family.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tsxgCqT84JQ/UsXharxRd-I/AAAAAAAAJGc/jRbfMonWoMc/s1600/DSC_2934+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tsxgCqT84JQ/UsXharxRd-I/AAAAAAAAJGc/jRbfMonWoMc/s320/DSC_2934+(2).jpg" height="212" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2013 really was a great year for us. We saw many changes for our family and most of them were for the better. 2014 is going to bring with it it's own set of changes. Adam was promoted at work to a new position that is going to be quite different from what he has been doing for the last four years but he's excited for the challenge and I am very proud of him!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In other news, I am starting graduate school in just a few weeks. I am super excited to be going back to school! I'm not in a hurry to finish. I don't really want to go back to work until Addison is in kindergarten but as our sweet girl is already two and a half, that time will be here before we know it, so I am starting the process now. Grad school with three kids is going to be fun! But I think I am ready for it.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So as far as this little blog goes, I'm afraid it's becoming a " no news is good news" &nbsp;blog. It has served me well. A place to pour it all out and share our journey with hydrocephalus. And I promise I won't leave y'all hanging. But our day to day family documentation is going in our Project Life albums and our medical news, thank God, is just not as frequent as it used to be. She's an amazing little kid but right now the stories are more about how she spilled the whole pot of potato soup out of the&nbsp;refrigerator&nbsp;or how she got on the floor and tried to eat her breakfast taco off&nbsp;her plate like the dogs. Or how she took more Christmas ornaments off the tree than on. Or how she loves to boss her brothers around. Or how I'm so busy keeping her from hurting our dogs or her brothers, I don't have time to write this blog ;) !&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thank you all for reading about our little girl! And for sticking with me through my fits and spurts of publishing. I'll be back. I'll definitely let you know how Addison is doing as she grows. And hopefully, with God's help, as she continues to thrive.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Until then, as always, feel free to email me with any questions you have about hydrocephalus or what it really means to be a mom to these little miracles we call our children. And I'm always up for a new hydro mom friend on Facebook. :)</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love and Blessings and Best Wishes for an <i>Amazing</i> <span style="font-size: large;">2014</span>!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">~Aimee</span><br /><br />Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-83935924094686503192013-08-04T14:42:00.002-07:002014-03-05T08:05:20.575-08:00The Arrival of August<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And just that like summer is winding down. We have three full weeks of summer vacation left and then we will hit the ground running. It's going to be a whole new experience for our family this upcoming school year as both boys are going to be enrolled at the same school!! I sat down today and typed out our ideal routine for school days. I shall post it on our fridge and enjoy trying to stick with it for ohhhh about two weeks! Anything else beyond that will be a miracle.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our summer has been a great one! We have managed to take the kids swimming several times, gone on vacation to Atlanta to visit family and friends and see a Braves game, made a day trip to get some yummy BBQ, and made several trips to the local outlet malls in search of school clothes times two this year! &nbsp;Adam and I even snuck away for an overnight date night a few weeks ago, thanks to Aunt Missy, who watched the kids.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bweEGZF0gFk/Uf7PNubT0YI/AAAAAAAAJD0/qwvv8MokJ-M/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bweEGZF0gFk/Uf7PNubT0YI/AAAAAAAAJD0/qwvv8MokJ-M/s400/iPhone+Back+up+214.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie's first time swimming this summer! She loved it! June 7, 2013</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ufpi500MjXA/Uf7OcIsJxyI/AAAAAAAAJDk/56yQ1Ew7PTc/s1600/iPhone+backup+223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ufpi500MjXA/Uf7OcIsJxyI/AAAAAAAAJDk/56yQ1Ew7PTc/s400/iPhone+backup+223.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our family of five at Turner Field in Atlanta, GA June 29, 2013</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cp7oNT8cTyM/Uf7OlplfhpI/AAAAAAAAJDs/MarBwfs99qk/s1600/iPhone+backup+251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cp7oNT8cTyM/Uf7OlplfhpI/AAAAAAAAJDs/MarBwfs99qk/s400/iPhone+backup+251.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All 8 of us!! Chapman Family outside of Marietta Diner June 30, 2013</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DQRUBasPDuQ/Uf7QHWbQxkI/AAAAAAAAJEI/gKBfcQwsaG4/s1600/iPhone+Backup+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DQRUBasPDuQ/Uf7QHWbQxkI/AAAAAAAAJEI/gKBfcQwsaG4/s400/iPhone+Backup+016.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie ready for the Outlet Malls on the Fourth of July!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GThoFcOXpzY/Uf7QwZtXhpI/AAAAAAAAJEQ/nl1F--CcxCU/s1600/iPhone+Backup+037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GThoFcOXpzY/Uf7QwZtXhpI/AAAAAAAAJEQ/nl1F--CcxCU/s400/iPhone+Backup+037.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We had to take a trip to UT campus to get a copy of my transcript for my graduate school application. Had to take some pictures while we were there!! Hook em!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">&nbsp;July 12, 2013</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TsP9nD6gAlI/Uf7RJgctiSI/AAAAAAAAJEY/llPcgPDPtFs/s1600/iPhone+Backup+095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TsP9nD6gAlI/Uf7RJgctiSI/AAAAAAAAJEY/llPcgPDPtFs/s400/iPhone+Backup+095.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Getting our BBQ on at Louie Miller's BBQ in Taylor. It was gooood!! July 23, 2013&nbsp;</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Medically speaking, &nbsp;Addison is doing awesome!! She saw Dr. George, her neurosurgeon, on June 7th after having her fast aquisition MRI on the 6th. She got a great report. Scans are normal for her and we don't have to go back to see him for a FULL YEAR!!!! Amazing!! We are so excited and thankful! A tad surreal to go that long without seeing him but we are thrilled that Addie's able to go so long without an MRI. Of course, like always with hydrocephalus, things can change on a dime and we will continue to watch for any signs or symptoms of shunt failure.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In other medical news, we have recently started clinical PT again, this time at Dell Children's Rehab Clinic and we LOVE it. Well, I love it! Addie isn't a fan of the work. Her physiatrist wanted her to work up to a Walk Aide device (&nbsp;<a href="http://www.walkaide.com/en-US/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">more info here</a>&nbsp;) to help strengthen her left leg when she walks to improve her gait. Her new PT has tried it on her five minutes here or there and Addie isn't a fan. But the fact that Dell just has one sitting around on a shelf to try is pretty impressive! I miss all our ECI therapists but really feel like this is going to be a great thing for Addie's physical development. We drive down one morning a week and it's an easy drive, free parking, etc. Awesome! It will be even easier once the boys are both in school. Thankfully Aunt Missy and Mom have been around on and off to watch the boys so they haven't had to come hang out for the hour too many times.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie saw her eye doc this past week and Dr. R wants to try Botox again. She feels we saw a marked permanent improvement with the first treatment and that it warrants trying again before we move on to surgery. So we have that set up for September.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4yUPAc7ZfLA/Uf7PfASKYsI/AAAAAAAAJD8/5A0Mm_26smY/s1600/iPhone+Backup+165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4yUPAc7ZfLA/Uf7PfASKYsI/AAAAAAAAJD8/5A0Mm_26smY/s400/iPhone+Backup+165.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie waiting to go back to see Dr. R. July 31, 2013</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaking of September, she has her next follow up with her neurologist in September and then of course we will be following up with ophthalmology to watch her eyes after the second round of Botox. She'll have a 30 month well check sometime in November and a follow up with her physiatrist in October. That should round out all the medical appointments for the year. It will be weird not seeing her neurosurgeon in November... but pretty awesome too!!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In non medical upcoming events -- we have a Disney trip planned in November which we are really looking forward to!! A family reunion the week before we leave for Disney, and a trip to Albuquerque in December. Busy busy!! And then as soon as the New Year rolls around I will be going back to school!! It was a big decision for our family but I am ready and I think it's going to be a good thing for all of us. I will be (hopefully) taking two night classes a week, working toward my Elementary Education Masters and Initial Certification. I have already applied and been accepted. I'm just a little excited!! The goal is to be able to student teach the Spring of Addie's kindergarten year. Which is insane to think about. I have the luxury of time since I'm not wanting to go back to work before she's in school full time. So this program will work out and this way I only have to take two classes a semester.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our back to school list is almost done. We are working on moving the boys rooms around so that's what out next three weeks will be filled with. Paint, school supplies and catching up on Project Life to get ready for all the back to school pics. Then it'll be time for kindergarten orientation and meet the teacher for Grayson. Already. Where does the time go??</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">August 27th here we come!!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-34991853311109784322013-06-03T10:08:00.000-07:002013-06-11T10:09:12.054-07:00Jacob's graduation<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The last weekend in May, we headed to Llano so we could attend Jacob's high school graduation! Jacob is my oldest nephew, my sister Maurie's oldest son. I had asked Adam to take off work for the occasion so I could attend without having to bring Addie with me. Plus the fact that graduation didn't start til 8pm &nbsp;-- it would've been way past her bedtime! Thankfully he was able to request off!&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gOnmbW4DZf0/UbckLXwFOAI/AAAAAAAAJCI/vhzNJijG200/s640/blogger-image-988419698.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gOnmbW4DZf0/UbckLXwFOAI/AAAAAAAAJCI/vhzNJijG200/s400/blogger-image-988419698.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He's going to Texas A&amp;M and joining the corp of cadets. I won't hold it against him.... but Hook em!! ;)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2Aya0G7PG5Q/UbckOoiPTXI/AAAAAAAAJCQ/ORx4H_2bLxM/s640/blogger-image--758303278.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2Aya0G7PG5Q/UbckOoiPTXI/AAAAAAAAJCQ/ORx4H_2bLxM/s400/blogger-image--758303278.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Melissa had a lot of fun decorating his party table. We had a small party before graduation because Project Graduation was immediately after. So dinner at 5pm - no problem! Can you guess what his school colors are?&nbsp;</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VgtvQWElMqM/UbckI-syZwI/AAAAAAAAJCA/0jE9EaQeKhg/s640/blogger-image--1473239563.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VgtvQWElMqM/UbckI-syZwI/AAAAAAAAJCA/0jE9EaQeKhg/s400/blogger-image--1473239563.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aunt Missy and the high school grad after the ceremony</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_FCe1vtYcmI/UbckUIpthfI/AAAAAAAAJCg/wcudiNGm_aM/s640/blogger-image-1292685351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_FCe1vtYcmI/UbckUIpthfI/AAAAAAAAJCg/wcudiNGm_aM/s400/blogger-image-1292685351.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Raychel and one of her bffs, Kacy.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VgtvQWElMqM/UbckI-syZwI/AAAAAAAAJCA/0jE9EaQeKhg/s640/blogger-image--1473239563.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0q6TeD139qQ/UbckRZJcG6I/AAAAAAAAJCY/ou-VL3wrg1M/s640/blogger-image--205829467.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0q6TeD139qQ/UbckRZJcG6I/AAAAAAAAJCY/ou-VL3wrg1M/s400/blogger-image--205829467.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jacob with his mom!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-bJTzfEevfuw/UbckXFcMvHI/AAAAAAAAJCo/Cda-laEoM80/s640/blogger-image-1942501465.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-bJTzfEevfuw/UbckXFcMvHI/AAAAAAAAJCo/Cda-laEoM80/s400/blogger-image-1942501465.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jacob with my parents.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0CILvgLhZ6Y/UbckaNFUiVI/AAAAAAAAJCw/c7cJPY8YwME/s640/blogger-image--1161848618.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0CILvgLhZ6Y/UbckaNFUiVI/AAAAAAAAJCw/c7cJPY8YwME/s400/blogger-image--1161848618.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The face Jacob makes when getting advice from his grandmother. LOL</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-NGJszkwowS0/UbckC3mL5zI/AAAAAAAAJBw/4-0of-GJ77o/s640/blogger-image-486280628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-NGJszkwowS0/UbckC3mL5zI/AAAAAAAAJBw/4-0of-GJ77o/s400/blogger-image-486280628.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My sister Maurie and her family at the graduation reception</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--L4NOIeIAuk/UbckFtrlJNI/AAAAAAAAJB4/3sBNdLPBGkw/s640/blogger-image-2129657290.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--L4NOIeIAuk/UbckFtrlJNI/AAAAAAAAJB4/3sBNdLPBGkw/s400/blogger-image-2129657290.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Raychel playing photographer</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-41625411010610810402013-05-28T08:54:00.000-07:002013-06-11T09:31:38.298-07:00Memorial Day<div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We had such a great Memorial Day! Adam was off work and Grayson was home.&nbsp;</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The boys and Adam played football in the backyard while Adam grilles burgers. Addie had fun watching the boys through the sliding glass door.&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-z4LJ-maF00E/Ubci46VTCII/AAAAAAAAJA8/Mh8V3Ec_Mx8/s640/blogger-image--793198288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-z4LJ-maF00E/Ubci46VTCII/AAAAAAAAJA8/Mh8V3Ec_Mx8/s400/blogger-image--793198288.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our spread.</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8LncAMRx2-Y/UbcjKcQiHII/AAAAAAAAJBU/ItIRn86WOa8/s640/blogger-image--865181152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8LncAMRx2-Y/UbcjKcQiHII/AAAAAAAAJBU/ItIRn86WOa8/s400/blogger-image--865181152.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Katy waiting patiently for Addie to drop some food!&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fDbfxcB0fVk/UbcjP6-xSwI/AAAAAAAAJBk/djT0wI57Vvg/s640/blogger-image--1036538491.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fDbfxcB0fVk/UbcjP6-xSwI/AAAAAAAAJBk/djT0wI57Vvg/s400/blogger-image--1036538491.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Big burger for a big boy !</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-QV2atAk1p50/Ubci7-w3nsI/AAAAAAAAJBE/4XNzLIGkckA/s640/blogger-image--323870546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-QV2atAk1p50/Ubci7-w3nsI/AAAAAAAAJBE/4XNzLIGkckA/s400/blogger-image--323870546.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sad that we wouldn't let him have more ranch dressing for his carrots.</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-lA179bE8xzw/Ubci-Z53CoI/AAAAAAAAJBM/QGkWb0aKP4M/s640/blogger-image--693509579.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-lA179bE8xzw/Ubci-Z53CoI/AAAAAAAAJBM/QGkWb0aKP4M/s400/blogger-image--693509579.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cheese!&nbsp;</span></div>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-64185613989941691702013-05-23T10:01:00.000-07:002013-08-04T15:26:44.615-07:00Jack graduates Pre-K!<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jack's last day of pre-k came the day after Addie's birthday. So it was a busy week. Cliche but true -- it really does seem like yesterday we were taking his first day of pre-k pictures. Wow. What a crazy fast year this has been.&nbsp;</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MTcCK6llVf8/UbciWfY5M0I/AAAAAAAAJAE/MJibessagr0/s640/blogger-image-1778122492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MTcCK6llVf8/UbciWfY5M0I/AAAAAAAAJAE/MJibessagr0/s640/blogger-image-1778122492.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Traditional front door pic!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8lDskSCiNds/UbciZL0Q8GI/AAAAAAAAJAM/GQf1wEnARqg/s640/blogger-image-135079842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8lDskSCiNds/UbciZL0Q8GI/AAAAAAAAJAM/GQf1wEnARqg/s400/blogger-image-135079842.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He had speech that morning, so we were walking in by ourselves. &nbsp;Photo op!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0D-ErJ28FsM/UbcikSw9iUI/AAAAAAAAJAs/vnQGYWzareI/s640/blogger-image-719160668.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0D-ErJ28FsM/UbcikSw9iUI/AAAAAAAAJAs/vnQGYWzareI/s640/blogger-image-719160668.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jack and his sweet teacher Ms. Lauren!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SGueWFQllm8/UbcinbvaneI/AAAAAAAAJA0/u1Wpese6N5k/s640/blogger-image--29210395.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SGueWFQllm8/UbcinbvaneI/AAAAAAAAJA0/u1Wpese6N5k/s640/blogger-image--29210395.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="text-align: center;">Meanwhile, Grayson had hit his hand at his dad's house and complained of it hurting. So his dad took him into urgent care and while the urgent care doc did not think it was broken, the radiologist called the next morning and said oh nope, it is broken. So we had to follow up with an ortho surgeon. After I had to bite my lip to keep a straight face when he told me his pinkies weren't broken, they were crooked because of a hereditary condition called&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23px; text-align: start;">Clinodactyly. I stopped him mid sentence and was like um we know he has crooked pinkies. His dad does too. That's not why we are here. So upon further investigation, he said oh yeah... here's a little break right there. :) &nbsp;Thankfully it's not bad enough for a cast. Just an OT splint guard to protect it from more damage while it's healing.</span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j0RjU6Al7_w/UbciejKMuCI/AAAAAAAAJAc/dd9rDAxYKuM/s640/blogger-image--1072654050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j0RjU6Al7_w/UbciejKMuCI/AAAAAAAAJAc/dd9rDAxYKuM/s400/blogger-image--1072654050.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My three babies all ready for Jack's graduation.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7VFXyZPYnrY/UbcibbXOfFI/AAAAAAAAJAU/6FvCdKKRW84/s640/blogger-image-1269538034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7VFXyZPYnrY/UbcibbXOfFI/AAAAAAAAJAU/6FvCdKKRW84/s640/blogger-image-1269538034.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Stopping to check out the grass. (And this folks is why toddler size dresses still need to come with diaper covers!)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-YPiDkOoQCjY/Ubcih7sN_sI/AAAAAAAAJAk/8BFfx1K7uRc/s640/blogger-image-37247603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-YPiDkOoQCjY/Ubcih7sN_sI/AAAAAAAAJAk/8BFfx1K7uRc/s640/blogger-image-37247603.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Officially graduated from Pre-K! Congrats Jackson!! We are so proud of you!</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-39062510180886860192013-05-21T07:40:00.000-07:002013-06-11T09:02:05.396-07:00Happy birthday Addie Lea!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-z0nGrJrKvq8/UbchMY2vubI/AAAAAAAAI-M/fzsJHdUyJ1w/s640/blogger-image-183353357.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-z0nGrJrKvq8/UbchMY2vubI/AAAAAAAAI-M/fzsJHdUyJ1w/s640/blogger-image-183353357.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MCdsUh84Mzs/UbchYLCEb0I/AAAAAAAAI-s/EHxwqNJ5VuY/s640/blogger-image--1778779077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MCdsUh84Mzs/UbchYLCEb0I/AAAAAAAAI-s/EHxwqNJ5VuY/s640/blogger-image--1778779077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ypBVlj6kgGc/UbcgxR1RJXI/AAAAAAAAI9E/g1W11klEFic/s640/blogger-image--668056138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ypBVlj6kgGc/UbcgxR1RJXI/AAAAAAAAI9E/g1W11klEFic/s640/blogger-image--668056138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--jCHKed9NyU/Ubcg5dFJIdI/AAAAAAAAI9c/pU7YcdEssWQ/s640/blogger-image-449631442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--jCHKed9NyU/Ubcg5dFJIdI/AAAAAAAAI9c/pU7YcdEssWQ/s640/blogger-image-449631442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Ok0a9mS2zhU/Ubcg0XbMmiI/AAAAAAAAI9M/t9HJvCf0Utw/s640/blogger-image--494089248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Ok0a9mS2zhU/Ubcg0XbMmiI/AAAAAAAAI9M/t9HJvCf0Utw/s640/blogger-image--494089248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-U-Wgjok5icc/UbchevMEXKI/AAAAAAAAI-8/K-ySJjXIry8/s640/blogger-image--1654876729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-U-Wgjok5icc/UbchevMEXKI/AAAAAAAAI-8/K-ySJjXIry8/s640/blogger-image--1654876729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hTvmqZtKaIE/Ubchb4KpQhI/AAAAAAAAI-0/kOmSz8DOtEk/s640/blogger-image--1538296239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hTvmqZtKaIE/Ubchb4KpQhI/AAAAAAAAI-0/kOmSz8DOtEk/s640/blogger-image--1538296239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-jcXFFHRu9Jk/Ubcg_pJGUfI/AAAAAAAAI9s/3LEIsIO4xFQ/s640/blogger-image-1412657331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-jcXFFHRu9Jk/Ubcg_pJGUfI/AAAAAAAAI9s/3LEIsIO4xFQ/s640/blogger-image-1412657331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-OBhGu74CtxE/UbchSX-hCxI/AAAAAAAAI-c/DbnWKfw5g1o/s640/blogger-image-686122619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-OBhGu74CtxE/UbchSX-hCxI/AAAAAAAAI-c/DbnWKfw5g1o/s640/blogger-image-686122619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--1_WYVb4Keg/UbchIs1dfMI/AAAAAAAAI-E/bSHs8_-K2bw/s640/blogger-image-605320788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--1_WYVb4Keg/UbchIs1dfMI/AAAAAAAAI-E/bSHs8_-K2bw/s640/blogger-image-605320788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uwAFv7bPvDU/Ubcg2wLdMjI/AAAAAAAAI9U/hVN7OOnAefM/s640/blogger-image-804167614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uwAFv7bPvDU/Ubcg2wLdMjI/AAAAAAAAI9U/hVN7OOnAefM/s640/blogger-image-804167614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XK-98RgBdA8/Ubcg8Ri6xVI/AAAAAAAAI9k/OJL4Q9hV2O0/s640/blogger-image-481586077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our baby girl is TWO!!!! I can't believe it! What a fast and crazy ride it has been these past two years! Addie completes our family in just the way we needed and didn't even know it!! Here's to many more years baby girl! Love you THIS much!!&nbsp;</span><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At 8:30am, Addie turned two officially. So I had to snap a shot of what she was doing right at that moment. And inspired by the 12 on 12 pic trend, I decided to take a picture of her on every hour on the half hour of her throughout the day to document her 2nd birthday! It was such a fun project and I enen got Adam on board when I was running errands and she stayed at home with him.&nbsp;</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-pBKtRSvFrDg/UbchhFPKrbI/AAAAAAAAI_E/yzRylYHSopw/s640/blogger-image--299664209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-pBKtRSvFrDg/UbchhFPKrbI/AAAAAAAAI_E/yzRylYHSopw/s640/blogger-image--299664209.jpg"></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What she was doing the minute she turned 2. Saying good morning to Katy and Chuy and holding my iPad. Pretty much her three favorite things in the world. Pretty great way to turn 2!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XK-98RgBdA8/Ubcg8Ri6xVI/AAAAAAAAI9k/OJL4Q9hV2O0/s640/blogger-image-481586077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XK-98RgBdA8/Ubcg8Ri6xVI/AAAAAAAAI9k/OJL4Q9hV2O0/s640/blogger-image-481586077.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Calling "MeMaw"</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uwAFv7bPvDU/Ubcg2wLdMjI/AAAAAAAAI9U/hVN7OOnAefM/s640/blogger-image-804167614.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mom snuggles after breakfast</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--1_WYVb4Keg/UbchIs1dfMI/AAAAAAAAI-E/bSHs8_-K2bw/s640/blogger-image-605320788.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Upset she couldn't get in the "bathtub" with Jack. Meltdowns mean ready for nap!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-OBhGu74CtxE/UbchSX-hCxI/AAAAAAAAI-c/DbnWKfw5g1o/s640/blogger-image-686122619.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nap time! Typical Addie sleep position.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-jcXFFHRu9Jk/Ubcg_pJGUfI/AAAAAAAAI9s/3LEIsIO4xFQ/s640/blogger-image-1412657331.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Helping Daddy make her birthday cupcakes. She had to taste test and approve the frosting.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hTvmqZtKaIE/Ubchb4KpQhI/AAAAAAAAI-0/kOmSz8DOtEk/s640/blogger-image--1538296239.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hanging out with Daddy while Mom took Jack to his graduation practice and while Mom got a much needed hair cut!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-U-Wgjok5icc/UbchevMEXKI/AAAAAAAAI-8/K-ySJjXIry8/s640/blogger-image--1654876729.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3:30pm MeMaw arrived!! Walking outside to greet her!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Ok0a9mS2zhU/Ubcg0XbMmiI/AAAAAAAAI9M/t9HJvCf0Utw/s640/blogger-image--494089248.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Looking at Mom's Project Life album with MeMaw</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--jCHKed9NyU/Ubcg5dFJIdI/AAAAAAAAI9c/pU7YcdEssWQ/s640/blogger-image-449631442.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Emptying the contents of Aunt Missy's purse</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ypBVlj6kgGc/UbcgxR1RJXI/AAAAAAAAI9E/g1W11klEFic/s640/blogger-image--668056138.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Getting dressed for her party</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MCdsUh84Mzs/UbchYLCEb0I/AAAAAAAAI-s/EHxwqNJ5VuY/s640/blogger-image--1778779077.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Birthday cupcake covered!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-z0nGrJrKvq8/UbchMY2vubI/AAAAAAAAI-M/fzsJHdUyJ1w/s640/blogger-image-183353357.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One last MeMaw snuggle before bed time! 12 hours of birthday fun!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-tzi4_iF_rcM/UbchCulUzOI/AAAAAAAAI90/cRNjDtpTenk/s640/blogger-image-2102701839.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-tzi4_iF_rcM/UbchCulUzOI/AAAAAAAAI90/cRNjDtpTenk/s640/blogger-image-2102701839.jpg"></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My sweet two year old!!!&nbsp;</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--2fhRmQMrBs/UbchPiJ8ONI/AAAAAAAAI-U/Zt6d02_i2g8/s640/blogger-image-871556442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--2fhRmQMrBs/UbchPiJ8ONI/AAAAAAAAI-U/Zt6d02_i2g8/s640/blogger-image-871556442.jpg"></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Silly girl - ready to eat dinner!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WRCxogFXVrQ/UbchFT5WFUI/AAAAAAAAI98/BvUwzG8afPE/s640/blogger-image-199748697.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WRCxogFXVrQ/UbchFT5WFUI/AAAAAAAAI98/BvUwzG8afPE/s400/blogger-image-199748697.jpg" width="400"></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pretty fire!! &nbsp;She was mesmerized.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kSMNClBQXeY/UbchVTSqaiI/AAAAAAAAI-k/K5P6aNehquo/s640/blogger-image--1763776518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kSMNClBQXeY/UbchVTSqaiI/AAAAAAAAI-k/K5P6aNehquo/s400/blogger-image--1763776518.jpg" width="400"></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Getting down to cupcake eating business!</span><br><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-51845225418985484002013-05-13T09:46:00.000-07:002013-06-11T09:49:40.543-07:00May Madness<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">May has been crazy!!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Melissa and I took the kids out for burgers the first Friday in May.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cnYrdEG7GVA/Ubch37DcifI/AAAAAAAAI_8/cINh0nWIA0g/s640/blogger-image-1798554086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cnYrdEG7GVA/Ubch37DcifI/AAAAAAAAI_8/cINh0nWIA0g/s400/blogger-image-1798554086.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZMyelnXqWiI/UbchmzIkOkI/AAAAAAAAI_M/SwmX3HWs888/s640/blogger-image-152595932.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZMyelnXqWiI/UbchmzIkOkI/AAAAAAAAI_M/SwmX3HWs888/s400/blogger-image-152595932.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We stopped by Carters afterwards and bought Addie some cool new sunshades! She calls glasses 'garros'. Who knows why. But she was excited to have her own pair of garros. Do you think she wore her garros when she had a prescription pair? Of course not.</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_ZJ3R1Wx3Gs/UbchxvWcCbI/AAAAAAAAI_s/TZrj_LG-RnA/s640/blogger-image--2047120914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_ZJ3R1Wx3Gs/UbchxvWcCbI/AAAAAAAAI_s/TZrj_LG-RnA/s640/blogger-image--2047120914.jpg" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We hit JoAnn's up afterwards for some party supplies for Addie's upcoming birthday. She managed to grab a tube of white acrylic paint and get it open. Naturally!</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next morning I woke up sick. So sick. I think it was food poisoning or maybe the norovirus but I was down for the count. Thankfully Melissa was able to come over and help with the kids and then Adam was off the next two days. I was down. For like a week. It was horrible! And when Momma is down, no pictures are taken! So May is a little light on the pictures.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Gxb62M52a5k/UbchsFV4f1I/AAAAAAAAI_c/47BJ3XSHtqc/s640/blogger-image-1017701402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Gxb62M52a5k/UbchsFV4f1I/AAAAAAAAI_c/47BJ3XSHtqc/s640/blogger-image-1017701402.jpg" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Eye follow up with Dr. R on May 10th. She is happy that we have confirmed the sixth nerve palsy diagnosis but now that the Botox is wearing off we are starting to see the eye start to cross back in. And it is turning up some now too. So we have added a new diagnosis of fourth nerve palsy on top of the sixth nerve palsy. Awesome. We are going to try chemical patching for three more months than most likely looking at surgery in the late summer, early fall. Dr. R did say that because the Botox did work partially, the procedure should be a lot easier. She can go in and tighten the muscles instead of removing, cutting, and reattaching them. &nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-dKEMfCPSZfw/UbchpDKwC8I/AAAAAAAAI_U/sA2OK8sh6C0/s640/blogger-image-597665437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-dKEMfCPSZfw/UbchpDKwC8I/AAAAAAAAI_U/sA2OK8sh6C0/s640/blogger-image-597665437.jpg" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While we waited for Dr. R to come in,&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jack helped Addie put her shoe back on all on his own. Be still my heart, Prince Charming!</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-HuCb6mTRRGc/UbchvB-o0jI/AAAAAAAAI_k/-YzxXWDwHjM/s640/blogger-image-779762519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-HuCb6mTRRGc/UbchvB-o0jI/AAAAAAAAI_k/-YzxXWDwHjM/s640/blogger-image-779762519.jpg" /></a>&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Later that afternoon, Melissa, Jack, Addie and I went in search of more birthday party supplies. JoAnn's didn't have what I was after. &nbsp;Addie walked into Hobby Lobby like a big girl. (Are you seeing a craft store trend here? ) After the paint issue at JoAnn's we are trying to let her ride in the cart more and the stroller less. Less things within arms reach. &nbsp;So she is walking into places more now. Such a big girl!</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SjIQ4tCLgSg/Ubch1CR1MaI/AAAAAAAAI_0/nyQQ9KrUbfo/s640/blogger-image--1549963862.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SjIQ4tCLgSg/Ubch1CR1MaI/AAAAAAAAI_0/nyQQ9KrUbfo/s400/blogger-image--1549963862.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jack woke up sick the next morning. Stomach bug. It was weeks after mine so I really don't know if it was the same thing or not. He was curled up on the couch watching cartoons and Addie crawled up with him and snuggled. I love the bond I see growing between these two!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-89774986792011330202013-05-03T15:09:00.000-07:002013-05-14T15:18:55.589-07:00What's Been Going On!<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's been a while, dear Blog. I am so sorry for that. We were offline for a few weeks for technical reasons and now we are back. I hope. I'll admit -- with less medical things going on, there's just not as much blog material to share. I may have to start blogging about cooking recipes and Project Life pages. Something. Anything. And can I say how awesome it is that I am having to search out blog topics?! That means that Miss Addie is rocking along. And that she is!!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the medical front -- Addie got up to her full dose of her seizure med on February 19th. March 9th, she had another seizure. Same situation as last time. She fell asleep in her car seat early after having a restless night of sleep. So we have a pattern. That's a silver lining. This seizure was different. It was less involved. Her eyes were jerking and she threw up a few times but her arms and legs were not involved. Another pattern, another data point. Silver lining #2. I didn't know if I was supposed to administer her rescue meds for this type of seizure. &nbsp;A complex partial seizure without convulsions. (Now that we know more, we aren't even sure if she has ever had a Tonic Clonic aka gran mal seizure before or if she just has really involved Complex Partials. Thankfully it doesn't make a difference with the medicine they put her on) So I called medlink and while I waited for the return call, &nbsp;I went ahead and gave diastat at 10 mins. It stopped in time, so we didn't have to call 911 this time. After observing her for quite some time, I put her back in her car seat, with my sister riding in the back seat with her to watch her closely and we drove home to let her sleep. She only slept about 2 hrs, so the postictal stage was shorter with this seizure as well. Silver lining #3. So all good things to know and to work with going forward with her seizure plan. I talked to the doctor on call about what next... and she agreed that it was a great sign that her seizures seem to be getting less involved each time. A wonderful sign the medicine is doing it's job, at least partially. So she ordered a blood draw while we were in for the Botox to check her med levels.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Fast forward a week after Botox, and her levels were too low. 2.2 when the range should be 3.2-14. So yay! We had some room to increase her! With a bunch of logistically stuff I will spare you... we finally got her worked up to 100mg a day. She had started at 50... and there was some confusion as to whether she should've been started at 100 and there had been an error or if the doctor had started out low on purpose to give us room to bump up and not over medicate&nbsp;unnecessarily. Who knows. &nbsp;In the end, we are up to 100 mg a day as of April 13th. She chews her 'bites' in the morning and evening like a champ. And momma is staying on top of it thanks to her handy dandy iPhone alarm.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Fast forward again, Addie had a cold last week. Ran a fever of 102 and again had a restless night of sleep. She also went to bed an hour and half earlier than normal and slept 2 hrs later the next morning. That was 15.5 hrs going between meds, when at most she goes 13. About two hours after she was awake, I saw her chewing on her left side only. I thought she had something in her mouth but upon investigation, couldn't find anything. She kept doing it, over and over. The hairs on the back of my momma neck stood up... and I thought -- was this a seizure? A simple partial as opposed to a complex partial. Basically less involved and they maintain&nbsp;consciousness&nbsp;through it. After consulting a few trusted hydro moms, I called the neuro nurse on call and she said "yep, sounds like a baby breakthrough seizure." So we know why -- a virus, fever, and going longer between doses than ideal. And it's another amazing data point. Every one so far has gotten less involved. I am loving this pattern we are seeing and pray it continues. Once she woke up from her nap, she did it a few more times. Chewing on her left side only, staring off a little zoned. She'd still play with her toys, or whatever but would just absent mindedly chew. After about 5pm she stopped and I haven't seen her do it since. Dr. K returned our call the next day (having been out of the office the day it happened) and said not to change anything. I know it may sound strange to be excited over a seizure, but the progression or rather regression of the seizure activity that we have seen after starting the medicine has been amazing. I am so cautiously optimistic about this! And thankful !! Of course, we still watch her like a hawk all.the.time. and carry her rescue meds everywhere. But we are just a tad hopeful !!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In other medical news, Addie is now the proud owner of a new AFO for her left foot. She is weaker on her left side because of her hemiparesis. The current theory is that her hemi was from her brain bleeds after she was born and not related to hydrocephalus per se. &nbsp;She had an SMO (another type of foot orthotic) &nbsp;but after we saw Dr. N in April, she decided that it's time for more intervention. Addie is hyperextending her knee when she walks. Her knee pops because her hamstring isn't strong enough to stop the momentum of the movement. So she has a guard up the back of her calf to stop that and the brace is hinged to keep her ankle stretched as she walks. &nbsp;We had the fitting last week, and her awesome PT went with us to make sure we got everything done she wanted addressed. In the middle of the fitting, the orthotics tech was sitting in front of Addie, wrapping her leg with the mold cast, and Addie reached out and grabbed her by both ears and planted a wet smacky kiss on her lips. I was both amused and horrified. I think the tech felt the exact same way.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last week, we were able to go pick up the brace. We were there for about an hour trying to get the fitting just right. I was supposed to bring shoes with me that would work and, naturally, as we were late leaving that morning I couldn't find her other tennis shoe. I looked everywhere. I finally had to give up and bring her crocs with me so she'd have something that she could walk in her brace in. Most likely the tennis shoes would be too small but I was determined to try before buying new shoes. After we got back, Addie went down for a nap and I set out to find that stinking shoe. I looked in toy boxes, in cabinets, in bookshelves, under beds, under couches, etc etc. I finally found it. In the storage drawer under the oven. Oh Addie.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After finding the shoe, I had to make some major modifications aka cut the heck out of the back of it to get her brace in the shoe. I had already cut the shoe before, so I knew the shoe was already destroyed. Nothing to lose. I got the brace in it, by golly. But it wasn't as good of a fit as it should've been so.... we set out for new shoes last night. After giving the boys the whole, best behavior speech, we were successful! She scored some snazzy new tennis shoes to go over them and they are so easy to get on!! After the debacle at Nordstroms last time, I was dreading the fitting. But we found a new place -- locally owned here in Austin -- and the guy got it right on the first pair! He rocked my socks and Addie's right off ! Customers for life!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R90K39e7Ce0/UZKzoCUchBI/AAAAAAAAI7I/ES-N8aqBKAk/s1600/iPhone+Backup+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R90K39e7Ce0/UZKzoCUchBI/AAAAAAAAI7I/ES-N8aqBKAk/s320/iPhone+Backup+012.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MiIioC8wXU8/UZKzrVOQUiI/AAAAAAAAI7Q/TcL14XcEHp4/s1600/iPhone+Backup+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MiIioC8wXU8/UZKzrVOQUiI/AAAAAAAAI7Q/TcL14XcEHp4/s320/iPhone+Backup+017.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hMLTayiwPFo/UZKztwx_vCI/AAAAAAAAI7Y/-yQn3zHTnZU/s1600/iPhone+Backup+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hMLTayiwPFo/UZKztwx_vCI/AAAAAAAAI7Y/-yQn3zHTnZU/s320/iPhone+Backup+018.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie is trucking along in all other areas. We see her eye doc next week to follow up about the Botox. Her eyes looks great. They are still a little misaligned vertically now but so much better horizontally than they were so I am very curious to hear what Dr. R has to say next week. She has her 2 yr well check (OMG!!!!) the week after next, and then after her second birthday (May 20th) we have her follow up with Dr. G, her neurosurgeon. He hasn't seen her in six months so we are looking&nbsp;forward&nbsp;to that appointment. A quick MRI before hand and hopefully we are released for a full year! That is what I have heard -- once his patients are two, if they are stable vent wise, he wants one year follow ups. Not gonna lie, I can't believe we are here. That she is nearly two and that there is a&nbsp;possibility&nbsp;of going a full year without seeing her neurosurgeon. There will be much celebrating in our house if we get to that point.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Grayson is winding down fourth grade. He just had market day where we made 76 confetti eggs for him to sell. All to raise money for his school field trip. I never want to see another confetti egg as long as I live.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MD_1dH9kisk/UZK4FaC6xeI/AAAAAAAAI7k/yTRvT7ljfF4/s1600/iPhone+Backup+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MD_1dH9kisk/UZK4FaC6xeI/AAAAAAAAI7k/yTRvT7ljfF4/s320/iPhone+Backup+002.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jackson is nearly done with pre-k. Only about three weeks to go. He and I just made a police car out of a cardboard box for his school's transportation parade. Fun time.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r3yQw2MMx-o/UZK4LUhb4jI/AAAAAAAAI7s/UseYDbWZbNU/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r3yQw2MMx-o/UZK4LUhb4jI/AAAAAAAAI7s/UseYDbWZbNU/s320/iPhone+Back+up+113.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We had a great day last weekend at the Play for All Abilities Park. Addie got to swing and go down a slide for the first time. The park is amazing. The boys loved it too but it is made so all children can use it. I think it'll be a favorite spot of ours over the summer, and the fact that they are building a Torchy's Tacos right around the corner from it -- SCORE!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-snPV7u6D67Y/UYQFdN5ZGrI/AAAAAAAAI5w/la0I4TKH7Xs/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-snPV7u6D67Y/UYQFdN5ZGrI/AAAAAAAAI5w/la0I4TKH7Xs/s320/iPhone+Back+up+048.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LAywolYSblQ/UYQF7N5BhfI/AAAAAAAAI50/HmIe1WNzI7Q/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LAywolYSblQ/UYQF7N5BhfI/AAAAAAAAI50/HmIe1WNzI7Q/s320/iPhone+Back+up+067.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c53l2ADPjDM/UYQJAMz9bEI/AAAAAAAAI6I/0XVLE_HJbnM/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c53l2ADPjDM/UYQJAMz9bEI/AAAAAAAAI6I/0XVLE_HJbnM/s320/iPhone+Back+up+075.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are eagerly looking foward to summer. We have some fun trips planned to visit friends and family and are scheduling down time as well! I know it'll go by fast so I plan to soak up as much as I can. I think I'm more excited about school letting out than the boys are!! C'mon summer!!!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-62188311084101777182013-03-17T09:33:00.002-07:002013-03-17T10:00:16.120-07:00Botox-tastic!<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="goog_1279770356"></span><span id="goog_1279770357"></span>Thursday, March 14th, Adam and I took Addie to Dell Children's for a day surgery appointment for&nbsp;Botox injection in her eye.&nbsp;Thankfully they do this under general anesthesia and the Botox injection itself doesn't burn. Win win!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-00w7VlWX5vQ/UUXsnotFlBI/AAAAAAAAI5A/D3mko_khQhA/s1600/iphone+back+up+054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-00w7VlWX5vQ/UUXsnotFlBI/AAAAAAAAI5A/D3mko_khQhA/s320/iphone+back+up+054.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">She was really excited to find a 'chair' her size in the waiting room.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RMS81BUFHx4/UUXstkqTNiI/AAAAAAAAI5I/4ebL9tm68rQ/s1600/iphone+back+up+057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RMS81BUFHx4/UUXstkqTNiI/AAAAAAAAI5I/4ebL9tm68rQ/s320/iphone+back+up+057.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">She had a lot of fun going around and around the nurses desk.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kb2LrAwc5sw/UUXs0GpNi2I/AAAAAAAAI5Q/LUzsMp62al0/s1600/iphone+back+up+060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kb2LrAwc5sw/UUXs0GpNi2I/AAAAAAAAI5Q/LUzsMp62al0/s320/iphone+back+up+060.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Playing with toys while we waited for an OR. Love our Children's hospital!!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OEEQR3i6IEk/UUXs5186gzI/AAAAAAAAI5Y/9Ka6ENaHttM/s1600/iphone+back+up+063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OEEQR3i6IEk/UUXs5186gzI/AAAAAAAAI5Y/9Ka6ENaHttM/s320/iphone+back+up+063.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">All done and a little hungover from anesthesia. We had to keep her upright for six hours post op. Which was &nbsp;fun!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Botox is pretty well known as a treatment for crow's feet and forehead creases. Everything I knew about it pre-hydrocephalus diagnosis I learned from Sex and the City ;). I had heard/read about Botox being used to treat spastic muscles in kids with cerebral palsy before. In fact, Addie's neuro has mentioned it as a possibility in Addie's future for her left ankle/Achilles&nbsp;area if it continues to tighten as she gets older. However, I had never heard of it being used for kids with strabismus (learn more&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strabismus" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;). Who knew!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie has gone through a myriad of eye diagnoses since we first started going to her ophthalmologist when she was just six months old. The importance of getting this diagnosis right is to figure out how to straighten her eyes. Some cases are surgical, some require glasses, etc. In cases of strabismus (lazy eye or crossed eye), it's important to get both eyes working together to not only improve vision but to prevent her weaker eye from being shut off by her brain.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addison most likely sees in double... or somehow not 'normal'. We don't know. She can't tell us and as our doctor pointed out she doesn't know she sees differently. So we've been going every four to six weeks&nbsp;since last February to monitor her eyes and try all kinds of tricks!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At her last&nbsp;<a href="http://youjustmightfindyougetwhatyouneed.blogspot.com/2013/02/eye-yi-yi.html" target="_blank">appointment</a>, we finally settled on a diagnosis. &nbsp;The best way I know how to explain it is - the eyes have a lot of muscles around them working to pull the eye in all directions. The nerves that control the eye muscles wiggle all through the brain. Different brain damage in different areas causes different eye issues. With Addison, we are pretty sure she has multiple areas of her brain that are damaged and/or displaced with fluid. So she has more than one issue with her eye muscles. We treated the turning in with patching and glasses and dilating drops to encourage her to use her 'weaker' eye. And this helped to an extent. But once we could tell her eye was no longer crossing in, we were able to see that her eye was also not able to look out, past midline. So for example, her right eye &nbsp;would try to uncross and it couldn't go past the middle of her gaze to her right side. Sometimes it even looked like her left eye was crossing in, when really it was her right eye that couldn't turn out to keep them aligned. Sixth nerve palsy (learn more <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_nerve_palsy" target="_blank">here</a>)&nbsp;is what it's called when you can't turn your eye out past midline. The muscle in the corner of her eye (medial rectus in the image below) was contracted and physically restricting her eye from turning out.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://web.mit.edu/bcs/schillerlab/pictures/WEB001/GIFs/001-02.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="244" src="http://web.mit.edu/bcs/schillerlab/pictures/WEB001/GIFs/001-02.gif" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first line of treatment for this is Botox injection. Addie's ophthalmologist pulled the muscle out of her eye with forceps and injected the Botox straight into the muscle to relax it. Just like Botox relaxes wrinkles. The hope is that Addie will now be able to move her eye on her own, turning it out toward her right and stretching it out so that it won't form another contracture. One of the first questions I asked her doctor was will we have to do this&nbsp;multiple&nbsp;times. In kids with CP, they use Botox to relax the tightening tendons, etc. to allow them more flexibility. But in some cases of CP, once the Botox wears off, the muscles develop contractures again because of the neuro spasticity caused from the cerebral palsy. Apparently, with the eyes it's different. It's a one time damage to the nerve and not an ongoing central nervous issue.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is entirely possible, however, that we may only achieve partial correction with the Botox. We may have to try Botox again, or we may eventually have to do surgery on the muscles in her eyes. So far, I am pleasantly surprised in the difference it has made in her eye alignment. Dr. R told us it would take up to two weeks to notice any change.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I took this picture for comparison last night, two days post op -</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JT4HktcAaz8/UUXprCEZXYI/AAAAAAAAI4w/SXfUFx2HcXk/s1600/iphone+back+up+094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JT4HktcAaz8/UUXprCEZXYI/AAAAAAAAI4w/SXfUFx2HcXk/s320/iphone+back+up+094.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I thought it looked much better already so I went back through my photo roll and found a picture I had taken on January 26th.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Check this out</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZAmIFGcgz3M/UUXp-1RkYcI/AAAAAAAAI44/w7icPZzA2-E/s320/iphone+back+up+096.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">The important thing to notice is that in both pictures she's looking to her right. That's when we have noticed it the most in the past.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZAmIFGcgz3M/UUXp-1RkYcI/AAAAAAAAI44/w7icPZzA2-E/s1600/iphone+back+up+096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pretty crazy right?!&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are super excited to see what this will do for Addie!! We see Dr. R on March 27th for post op follow up. Should be interesting to hear what she says!!&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm already noticing that she's studying things differently. Almost like she's seeing them for the first time. I am thrilled to see what doors this opens for our Addie!!!&nbsp;</span></div>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-74319200544224212352013-03-06T09:29:00.002-08:002013-03-17T08:33:00.979-07:00Guest blogging about our last Disney trip!<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I had the privilege of guest blogging over at Violet Imperfection today! Leslie, Violet's mom and the writer at Violet Imperfection, is a friend of mine that I met many years ago on the DISBoards (an online bulletin board of Disney planners and fans). We actually accidentally bumped into each other in person at Disney Hollywood Studios back in 2010! It was kind of funny!! We were eating at Mama Melrose's and she and another DISboard friend of mine, Jen, were seated at the table next to us! We recognized each other from the pictures we had shared on the boards and were like "aren't you....?" LOL</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She is doing Disney Week on her blog this week and asked me to share our story from Addie's first seizure. Please go read all about it and make sure to enter her giveaway for an awesome Dooney and Bourke Disney inspired wristlet while you are there!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Go check it out!!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.violetimperfection.com/2013/03/disney-week-aimee-from-enjoy-this-moment.html" target="_blank">Violet Imperfection </a></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin-top: 10px;"><br /></div>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-39697599465977506842013-02-19T18:22:00.003-08:002013-02-19T18:42:08.124-08:00Target Seizure Style<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">February 6th started early with Addie waking up at 5am. She usually sleeps til 8:30-9am but not this night. We finally brought her into bed with us and she really didn't go back to sleep. I noticed she felt warm so when I got up to get Gray to school, I took her temp and it was around 100.5.&nbsp;Ordinarily&nbsp;I wouldn't worry about it but she had ear drainage the week before. Her pedi had called in antibiotic drops since she has tubes... so we were able to avoid an office visit or a full round of antibiotics. But one of the instructions from the nurse we spoke to was any fever, bring her in. I called the pedi right at 8am and got her first available appt at 10:10am.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I called my sister and asked if she wanted to play hookie with me that day and do some shopping after the appointment. Addie was acting fine and I felt like the doctor's visit was just a precaution with such a low grade temp.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2FvG5s2cPCQ/USQwfSdYhPI/AAAAAAAAI3Y/7gtzTW0w8Zw/s1600/iphone+backup+099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2FvG5s2cPCQ/USQwfSdYhPI/AAAAAAAAI3Y/7gtzTW0w8Zw/s320/iphone+backup+099.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My sister was able to join me and we went up the doctor's visit. Sure enough, she was diagnosed with a simple virus, not related to her ears at all because they were both clear. Her flu swab was negative, throat looked good etc. So we were sent on our way. Addie was acting fine. Talking to the nurses, walking down the halls etc.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We made our way to the car and headed across town to the Target over by my sister's house. Addie fell asleep in the car. We were prepared to take turns going into Target to let her sleep but right as we pulled into the parking lot, she woke up. Melissa got her out of her car seat and it was our hope that she would fall back asleep in her stroller as we pushed around Target. Addie looked pretty sleepy and mellow, so I felt like she'd be out in no time. Something we had done numerous times. We scored a rockstar parking spot just 3 spots from the front door and headed in. Before I could even get to the cosmetics and holiday aisle of Target, I noticed Addie wasn't looking around much. I thought she had fallen asleep already. I leaned down to check on her and saw immediately that her eyes were jerking to the side. Never having seen one of her seizures start before (having always found her mid seizure in her bed), I did not know if this was a new type of seizure or the beginnings of her 'usual' seizure. I knew immediately it was a seizure but did not know if it was going to go into a Tonic Clonic seizure that would need Diastat. Melissa had stepped to the rest room. Before she could even join me, Addie threw up. I knew as soon as she vomited that she was going to have a full convulsive seizure so I immediately turned the stroller around, caught Melissa at the $1 bin area and headed to the car. I had her Diastat with me but felt we were better suited to take care of her in the back of my car than in a public restroom in Target.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I estimated that the seizure had maybe lasted a minute at this point so I got her out of her stroller and put her in the back of our SUV. I timed two more minutes on the second hand of my watch, all the while turning her on her side, talking to her, taking off her shoes, socks and jeans, and preparing the Diastat pen. As soon as she hit the 2 mins timed mark, 3 mins total, I administered the Diastat. We have instructions not to call 911 unless the Diastat doesn't stop it in 3 mins. &nbsp;I began timing her again. Melissa was talking to her the entire time, as was I, and Jack was in the back seat of the Mitsubishi watching. I am so thankful that he is calm under pressure and knows when to stay quiet and out of the way. But it breaks my heart that he has to see her like that. I had my cell phone in hand and when Addie hadn't stopped seizing at the 3 mins mark, I dialed 911.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm not entirely sure how long it took the Diastat to work on her last seizure (back in December). Time is a funny thing. It seems to go on much longer when you are literally counting each second tick. Her last seizure was at home and I had to run and find a cell phone and then start the timer and then start timing. I wasn't wearing my watch and watching each second. I think this seizure took longer to stop but I can't swear to it...</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I do know that before the 911 operator could transfer me to the right county dispatcher, it had thankfully stopped. Right at 3:30 mins. This seizure seemed different. It was only her left arm that was jerking not all four of her limbs. It seemed to me her eyes weren't as out of it, she seemed more aware this time. This could be because she is on Lamictal and was up to half of her therapeutic dose. &nbsp;Or it could've been that I caught this seizure sooner than the first two and I administered the Diastat much quicker than the last time. I don't know. All good things to talk to Dr. K about when we see him again.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The ambulance was already dispatched at this point so we stayed on the line with the dispatcher and counted respiration rates while we waited. She gets pale but doesn't turn blue... Thank God! They carried her into the ambulance and she was satting in the low 90s, her blood sugar was 86, temperature 101.6. They wanted to attribute her seizure to her fever, which I realize is entirely possible, but she's had much higher fevers before, after her epilepsy diagnosis and never had a seizure with a fever before. So I wasn't convinced. She was coming around a lot more quickly, another good sign that I hope means her Lamictal was partially working. She had some odd eye movement though, which could have been a partial seizure after the convulsions stopped, or could've been just Addie's eyes, but it was enough for the paramedics to want to take her into the hospital and I wasn't about to refuse being away from home.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I rode in the ambulance with her and Melissa drove Jack and followed behind us. This ambulance ride was much different than the last one. No sirens, Addie was much more responsive, I had been there done that before and it wasn't as big of a deal. Don't get me wrong, no one wants to ride in an ambulance with their child, but this time wasn't nearly as scary as the last time. I could see she was ok. I had already seen her recover back to her baseline from a seizure. This seizure wasn't as scary looking. But for the record, seizures still suck.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We rode to Dell Children's and were put in a trauma room. Adam joined us shortly after we got there and Melissa stayed with us, holding Addie while she slept. Addie's temp was up to 102.6 so they ran a urinalysis to check for a UTI and gave her some Tylenol. We stayed for about 4 hrs and were sent home. Her tests were negative for UTI and we were told to follow up with her pedi if the fever&nbsp;persisted&nbsp;for more than 3 days. The attending at the ER got Addie's neuro on the phone and the neuro said not to worry about a break through seizure until she's up at her full dose of Lamictal. If it happens again after that, we will have to look at adding in another seizure med.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Overall, I have to say I was thrilled with our care at Dell Children's and by our local EMS. We've been at a few hospitals over the last 21 months and Dell Children's in Austin was by far our favorite. And I'm not just saying that. So happy to call it our home hospital.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie was walking around and talking, a little stoned on her Diastat still, but overall fine when we got home. She stayed with Adam and&nbsp;took a nap and I ran back to Target to get the thing I had went to get in the first place -- her video monitor had broken the night before and we had to spend a night with audio only. The silver lining, I guess, was that the seizure happened in the middle of the morning and not at home with a broken video monitor.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are now at full dose of her Lamictal. I hope and pray that the small improvements we saw in her seizure on Feb 6th were a result of the partial dose and that being at full dosage will keep them at bay. I find it extremely interesting that her seizures are happening almost 2 months to the day apart. Sept 28, Dec 7, Feb 6th. Something else to talk to Dr. K about. I also find it interesting that while it didn't happen in the morning waking in her bed, it did still happen waking up from a nap. And that she was sleep deprived this time as well. At least somewhat from waking up at 5am and not going back to bed. Of course, the fever is note worthy as well. As Dr. K said, we don't want more seizures, but the more data points we have, the more we can extrapolate what potential triggers she may have.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are very blessed to have family so close, a job that Adam can leave in the middle of the day if necessarily, an ex husband I can call at the drop of a hat to pick up Grayson, a middle son that is calm under pressure and super well behaved in an ER for 4 hrs and an awesome medical team both in our doctors and our home hospital. Seizures may suck, but we have an awesome plan in place and support system around us.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b_xRKd9mCKc/USQwZwmPTOI/AAAAAAAAI3E/vEifpFfEXO8/s1600/iphone+backup+102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b_xRKd9mCKc/USQwZwmPTOI/AAAAAAAAI3E/vEifpFfEXO8/s320/iphone+backup+102.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sleeping off the Diastat, waiting on the test results</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Df9j-laEJUM/USQwZHaDu4I/AAAAAAAAI28/gEWyS4GNvC8/s1600/iphone+backup+103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Df9j-laEJUM/USQwZHaDu4I/AAAAAAAAI28/gEWyS4GNvC8/s320/iphone+backup+103.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Waking up and&nbsp;wondering&nbsp;what was on her arm</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sX-dekTgIJM/USQwdd6lvcI/AAAAAAAAI3M/8vHxLOpbFoc/s1600/iphone+backup+104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sX-dekTgIJM/USQwdd6lvcI/AAAAAAAAI3M/8vHxLOpbFoc/s320/iphone+backup+104.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jack wanted to be by his sister...&nbsp;</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FYcpEbzvR2c/USQwfGllwGI/AAAAAAAAI3U/Pl4reFfhNfw/s1600/iphone+backup+105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FYcpEbzvR2c/USQwfGllwGI/AAAAAAAAI3U/Pl4reFfhNfw/s320/iphone+backup+105.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ready to bust out of this joint! She was up walking around, and pressing her nose to the glass watching the nurses walk by.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-62510820268479777572013-02-08T16:03:00.000-08:002013-03-06T12:57:23.512-08:00Eye Yi Yi <span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addison had her&nbsp;ophthalmology&nbsp;follow up on Feb 5th. It took Dr. R about two looks at her to decide Botox is our next best option. We've been going back and forth about the Sixth Nerve Palsy (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_nerve_palsy" target="_blank">read more here</a>)&nbsp;diagnosis and it seems that we have officially settled on it. There was some debate about whether this was a new development (which would mean she was currently under pressure intercranially speaking - which her neurosurgeon and optic nerve exam showed were not the case) or if this was some how hiding behind all her other eye issues. I had thought it was the later and Dr. R agrees. Basically, it's impossible to tell an eye can't turn out past midline if it's always turned in. So now that we have improved Addie's right eye enough to not turn in all the time, we can tell that she can't turn it out. Which makes it look like her left eye is turning in, when in fact it's her right eye that can't turn out to keep them aligned.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The eye diagnosis is a challenging one and takes time. I feel pretty good that we have a plan in place. Addie is scheduled for Botox injections into her right eye on March 14th. We will be doing this at Children's -- no outpatient facility for us! However, it should be a fairly short procedure. She will be under general anesthesia gas but shouldn't need to be intubated or have an IV placed. Both good things!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K0Mx-Hqt0Pw/USQRdyjhzaI/AAAAAAAAIx8/gVfEvxHD0Jk/s1600/iphone+backup+093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K0Mx-Hqt0Pw/USQRdyjhzaI/AAAAAAAAIx8/gVfEvxHD0Jk/s320/iphone+backup+093.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Waiting for Dr. R. Addie was determined to get her backpack out from underneath her stroller.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-63069346470631469352013-01-29T09:02:00.002-08:002013-02-19T18:41:55.407-08:00January is nearly over... already?!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's gone by so quickly! I feel like I'm always saying how fast time is going but seriously it's just zooming by! We are 3 days away from February?! CRAZY!&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are a few snapshots to cover the month of happenings in our household!&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IQumlKX-WbQ/UQVM52DHoqI/AAAAAAAAIuo/qANqaFuQRKE/s1600/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IQumlKX-WbQ/UQVM52DHoqI/AAAAAAAAIuo/qANqaFuQRKE/s320/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+483.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are continuing to work on eating with utensils. Addie likes to eat with a fork if you load it for her. So we take turns at &nbsp;the dinner time stabbing her food for her so she can eat. She has a healthy appetite and eats pretty much anything we put in front of her. The only food I've seen her spit back out is onions but who can blame her!?</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-11hn1Y0cu3M/UQVM9Vb4ZmI/AAAAAAAAIuw/L2CbFLYD180/s1600/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-11hn1Y0cu3M/UQVM9Vb4ZmI/AAAAAAAAIuw/L2CbFLYD180/s320/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+487.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A sweet pic of Jack and Addie. Boy do they favor!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wCFwMktPxoo/UQVM_MhzyAI/AAAAAAAAIu4/KJDuJ72tBYc/s1600/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wCFwMktPxoo/UQVM_MhzyAI/AAAAAAAAIu4/KJDuJ72tBYc/s320/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+488.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Working on hand to mouth coordination with a little incentive of a Popsicle. I'm &nbsp;beginning to think Addie isn't as sensitive to temperatures as most people. She held that thing in her hand until it was all gone and not by the stick! Her little fingers were pruny when she was done.&nbsp;</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ldPgU1EIOSA/UQVNDzcbP4I/AAAAAAAAIvI/MaycHhgkcRE/s1600/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ldPgU1EIOSA/UQVNDzcbP4I/AAAAAAAAIvI/MaycHhgkcRE/s320/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+499.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A walk to the mailbox in our crazy Texas Winter (ha!) weather.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ONaKsE47EVs/UQVNGrQc_5I/AAAAAAAAIvQ/k_5d00o63LA/s1600/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ONaKsE47EVs/UQVNGrQc_5I/AAAAAAAAIvQ/k_5d00o63LA/s320/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+503.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We spent the better part of a Saturday afternoon getting Addie some tennis shoes to wear with her foot brace. We managed to squeeze her brace into the same size shoes she's wearing on the other foot so we've eliminated the issue of having a shoe 2 sizes larger on her braced foot which would make dragging more likely. And now we (we meaning her PT and I) still aren't sure if the brace is helping. Stay tuned! It seems most of her issues are in her left (weak side) hip. So we are wrapping her in tape and an ace bandage to try to encourage her to bring her hip forward instead of leaving it behind her when she walks.&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P-qEwNRu5YI/UQVNT8rsgEI/AAAAAAAAIvg/wx8v5GsCB68/s1600/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+516.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P-qEwNRu5YI/UQVNT8rsgEI/AAAAAAAAIvg/wx8v5GsCB68/s320/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+516.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A fun movie night was had not too long ago. We all watched Clue and the kids devoured some white cheddar popcorn on the floor together.&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BS6Dq8kUbps/UQVM1YyF71I/AAAAAAAAIuY/9nHfRp9i1bQ/s1600/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BS6Dq8kUbps/UQVM1YyF71I/AAAAAAAAIuY/9nHfRp9i1bQ/s320/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+470.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I finally broke down and gave Addie a hair trim. It was time. Her curls covered up a lot of the crazy length but it was getting out of hand.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HQkMeGVANog/UQVM4NDC86I/AAAAAAAAIug/NUfbdBJ7REo/s1600/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HQkMeGVANog/UQVM4NDC86I/AAAAAAAAIug/NUfbdBJ7REo/s320/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+471.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After her trim! I just did her bangs and a little of the length off the back. She held still for me as long as she got to hold the baby monitor.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5JQUHqUtEK4/UQVNTI0fr-I/AAAAAAAAIvY/jshPnOmBvf0/s1600/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5JQUHqUtEK4/UQVNTI0fr-I/AAAAAAAAIvY/jshPnOmBvf0/s320/Aimee's+iPhone+Back+up+518.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Adam turned 35 on the 17th and Jack was excited to help me make his birthday dinner and dessert. He's a wanna be chef right now.&nbsp;Takes after his daddy.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EvVGpP77Tpk/UQVN1SFdsEI/AAAAAAAAIvo/lv-pYGRb41A/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EvVGpP77Tpk/UQVN1SFdsEI/AAAAAAAAIvo/lv-pYGRb41A/s320/iPhone+Back+up+019.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mom came in for the weekend of the boys birthday. We celebrated with blueberry pancakes and a party for both boys!</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iqb-RNJch2E/UQVN3KM9QMI/AAAAAAAAIv4/w-mJ6zypMtQ/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iqb-RNJch2E/UQVN3KM9QMI/AAAAAAAAIv4/w-mJ6zypMtQ/s320/iPhone+Back+up+021.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie insisted on having the jug o' syrup on her high chair tray.&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E-Pwsyy_24E/UQVOBLrbdFI/AAAAAAAAIwA/DHov1CSlDF0/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E-Pwsyy_24E/UQVOBLrbdFI/AAAAAAAAIwA/DHov1CSlDF0/s320/iPhone+Back+up+026.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The boys ready to party!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9gwgOQ_NMr8/UQVOCwGhFKI/AAAAAAAAIwI/lUE2ksc2cgI/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9gwgOQ_NMr8/UQVOCwGhFKI/AAAAAAAAIwI/lUE2ksc2cgI/s320/iPhone+Back+up+027.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They wanted a Halo cake! And from the sounds of it they had a great time helping Aunt Missy make it while Adam and I snuck away for a much needed date night.&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fxRSuTI6X34/UQVODU-Vp8I/AAAAAAAAIwQ/APqp4XlGNlo/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fxRSuTI6X34/UQVODU-Vp8I/AAAAAAAAIwQ/APqp4XlGNlo/s320/iPhone+Back+up+029.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8LqL6TxW3Jo/UQVOErEOLDI/AAAAAAAAIwY/11UPAZLE70Y/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8LqL6TxW3Jo/UQVOErEOLDI/AAAAAAAAIwY/11UPAZLE70Y/s320/iPhone+Back+up+030.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3sS08jUjp6U/UQVOKatlG4I/AAAAAAAAIwk/HtDugXHKNT8/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3sS08jUjp6U/UQVOKatlG4I/AAAAAAAAIwk/HtDugXHKNT8/s320/iPhone+Back+up+035.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie spent most of the evening after the party sticking her footsie in the ice chest!&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JjZzmFWfCTs/UQVOKCXgnYI/AAAAAAAAIwg/6E-gHbZ98KM/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JjZzmFWfCTs/UQVOKCXgnYI/AAAAAAAAIwg/6E-gHbZ98KM/s320/iPhone+Back+up+042.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My 10 year old baby boy!!! So proud of this kid!! And thankful to him for making me a mom!&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YkvcG_PR8Ac/UQVOKCg9oeI/AAAAAAAAIwo/bCEh9yjArDs/s1600/iPhone+Back+up+047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YkvcG_PR8Ac/UQVOKCg9oeI/AAAAAAAAIwo/bCEh9yjArDs/s320/iPhone+Back+up+047.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our sweet Jack is 5!! I know how cliche it sounds but it really does feel like yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. So blessed to have these boys in our family!! And how cool is it that they will always share such a special thing as having the same birthday?!&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><br />Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-61225277221671905072013-01-16T14:48:00.002-08:002013-03-04T18:44:46.386-08:00Still here!<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well hello there blog... it's been a while. I have a legit excuse... really! Addie dropped my laptop again... and crashed my hard drive again and I just can't bring myself to fix it when she's probably going to do it again. That's THREE hard drive crashes in one year for those of you playing the home game. The last two times were under warranty but no such luck this time. Thankfully I had all our pictures backed up - ha! Learned the hard way.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But blogging from the kids iPad isn't as easy as it is on a laptop. I'm a typer. I need the feel of real keys under my fingers. So blogging has not been as easy sans laptop. As it is now, I am taking the time to sit down on the old desktop computer we let the kids use and am making myself update this puppy.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Things are moving right along in the big 2 0 1 3. We are officially 16 days into the new year and we are trying to start the new year off right. Everyone is trying to help out around the house more and eat healthier. Everyone is trying to focus on family time.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am happy to report that we have only had one doctor's appointment so far this year! YAY! Addie saw her neurologist on Jan 7th - the first time since her repeat seizure episode. We have started her on Lamictal and are slowly bringing her up to full dosage. A process that will take 8 wks. There are very few side effects to this med which was our main concern. So we are feeling good about this decision. We are praying that she does not develop an allergic reaction in the form of a rash - the most common side effect for this med. Which is why we have a very strict dosing schedule to adhere to. Gradually bringing them up to dose is one way to counteract the potential reaction. So far we have noticed no reactions or any side effects and we are very grateful for that. We won't know if the medicine is helping with the seizures until if/when she has another one. She went 2 months and 10 days between seizures the first time so we are marking the calendar and are prepared but hopeful that it won't happen again. I spend entirely too much time watching her sleep via her video monitor, but it's well worth the peace of mind. Dr. K did express relief that the Diastat worked as well and quickly as it did. It gives us a little more freedom as far as any future traveling is concerned. But as of now, we are grounded. We aren't planning on going anywhere for a while.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have emailed Duke and informed them that we will not be returning for her third stem cell infusion. What a bittersweet decision that was. There were a lot of factors and we spent several months debating and praying over this decision. For now, we feel it is safer to err on the side of caution and not fly half way across the country until we get a better handle on the seizures. I know a lot of kids that travel with epilepsy but the whole situation in Orlando has left me a little weary and I have learned to listen to those feelings. So for now, we are postponing her 3rd infusion indefinitely. There are obviously other factors involved, but her new diagnosis of seizure disorder definitely sealed the deal on that chapter.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addison is growing by leaps and bounds! She's 33 inches tall and 32 lbs! Her head circ is up to 53cm but it's growing at a nice steady pace so no cause for concern. She has about 30 words now and has really taken a leap in her receptive language. I can ask her to throw away her diaper and she'll do it! She'll bring me the remote, go find her juice, etc. It's awesome to see proof that she understands so much of her world around her! She is tall enough to reach the top of the counter tops which has been quite interesting! She can reach the top of the stove!! So anytime we are cooking, she is relegated to baby jail aka her pack n play, which she hates.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We finally got her shoes for her smo brace... real shoes this time, not Crocs and we are working on building her up to wearing &nbsp;her brace full time. It makes a difference for sure, but we aren't sure if it's the smo or the lift part. Her new PT, Sam is amazing. WE love her! She thinks Addie's leg length discrepancy is actually her leaning to her stronger side as opposed to her legs actually being shorter on one side. Which makes sense! We are watching that closely. Now all of our PT focus is on her hip and getting her to bring it forward when she walks.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speech is pleased with her progress! Her new goal is 50 expressive words and we are on track to meet that goal in a few months!</span></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OT is still working on her left hand weakness from her hemiparesis, as well as eating with utensils and pre writing skills with her strong hand. We are going to bump her up to 4 times a month in OT since we've been working on her utensil goal for a while now. Addie has the concept of eating with a fork. In fact, we spent an evening out at a restaurant loading her fork with every bite so she could feed herself the entire meal with a fork. She knows she's supposed to be using one. So now we just have to catch her fine motor dexterity up with her brain.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Her favorite thing is still the Wiggles on iPad or our phones. It's generally the first word out of her mouth when she wakes up in the morning. She makes me put on my 'gasses' (glasses) before I can do anything else. She's quite a little character!!&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Whew.... I am a typer :)</span></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I will do my best to get pics uploaded to this computer soon !!</span></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Blessings ~&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aimee</span>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-42807487722154593092012-12-27T10:37:00.001-08:002013-02-19T18:42:30.342-08:00Merry Christmas<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wPZwmAuGank/UNyGpKeSnLI/AAAAAAAAIpo/Pe5xyMqZWQI/s1600/Christmas+2012+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wPZwmAuGank/UNyGpKeSnLI/AAAAAAAAIpo/Pe5xyMqZWQI/s400/Christmas+2012+016.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Our family of five on Christmas Eve</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--GFmbqU_yPs/UNyG4WcNFyI/AAAAAAAAIpw/JkyjVb907-w/s1600/Christmas+2012+026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--GFmbqU_yPs/UNyG4WcNFyI/AAAAAAAAIpw/JkyjVb907-w/s400/Christmas+2012+026.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">My extended family - all 17 of us.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0ICu9KqkuGI/UNyHHNUhqjI/AAAAAAAAIp4/Q2TjZ4fRLA4/s1600/Christmas+2012+040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0ICu9KqkuGI/UNyHHNUhqjI/AAAAAAAAIp4/Q2TjZ4fRLA4/s320/Christmas+2012+040.JPG" width="288" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Addie crawling over to MeMaw as she read the story of Christ's birth from the family bible.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S2aootp8D3A/UNyHYI8JUvI/AAAAAAAAIqA/SOOXP6oxtVY/s1600/Christmas+2012+043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S2aootp8D3A/UNyHYI8JUvI/AAAAAAAAIqA/SOOXP6oxtVY/s400/Christmas+2012+043.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Helping Aunt Missy hand out gifts</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9ILAbvdQNss/UNyHoKbJExI/AAAAAAAAIqI/wWQBsjvCED8/s1600/Christmas+2012+045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9ILAbvdQNss/UNyHoKbJExI/AAAAAAAAIqI/wWQBsjvCED8/s400/Christmas+2012+045.JPG" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Cousin Jared showing her how to use her new popper pusher toy</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M0ZQOUML3jo/UNyH3zUeHRI/AAAAAAAAIqQ/84FJB5cQVRY/s1600/Christmas+2012+052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M0ZQOUML3jo/UNyH3zUeHRI/AAAAAAAAIqQ/84FJB5cQVRY/s400/Christmas+2012+052.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Trying to get her to sit still in front of the tree for a pic.... &nbsp;practically impossible.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I0DQuTqS2l4/UNyNONfXsPI/AAAAAAAAIrY/Nt82eQuyHUA/s1600/iPhone+back+up+112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I0DQuTqS2l4/UNyNONfXsPI/AAAAAAAAIrY/Nt82eQuyHUA/s400/iPhone+back+up+112.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">My 3 babies!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P4PHFDTpC1c/UNyNW9CiFgI/AAAAAAAAIrg/1ptnY25tkAI/s1600/iPhone+back+up+125.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P4PHFDTpC1c/UNyNW9CiFgI/AAAAAAAAIrg/1ptnY25tkAI/s400/iPhone+back+up+125.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Trying on Uncle Jay's glasses</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZZ0TWEn4g7Y/UNyNlorU2RI/AAAAAAAAIro/y4mph9cTaJE/s1600/iPhone+back+up+138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZZ0TWEn4g7Y/UNyNlorU2RI/AAAAAAAAIro/y4mph9cTaJE/s400/iPhone+back+up+138.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Checking out MeMaw's goodies</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-am4MU7DumEs/UNyN2m1QBOI/AAAAAAAAIrw/TRcPsLFGJS4/s1600/iPhone+back+up+140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-am4MU7DumEs/UNyN2m1QBOI/AAAAAAAAIrw/TRcPsLFGJS4/s400/iPhone+back+up+140.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Finally hung my camera on the tree to entice her to stand still.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cNmgAKe7hpU/UNyOIp-BH-I/AAAAAAAAIr4/_sP7X7wpUDo/s1600/iPhone+back+up+146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cNmgAKe7hpU/UNyOIp-BH-I/AAAAAAAAIr4/_sP7X7wpUDo/s400/iPhone+back+up+146.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"><br />The wonderment of a child&nbsp;</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T5Pt10jgC3o/UNyOT4Rfy2I/AAAAAAAAIsA/JkqAT3sHMCA/s1600/iPhone+back+up+149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T5Pt10jgC3o/UNyOT4Rfy2I/AAAAAAAAIsA/JkqAT3sHMCA/s400/iPhone+back+up+149.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TvQ2GedA0L4/UNyObjYP6lI/AAAAAAAAIsI/V6noobW90qc/s1600/iPhone+back+up+155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TvQ2GedA0L4/UNyObjYP6lI/AAAAAAAAIsI/V6noobW90qc/s400/iPhone+back+up+155.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Ready for bed at 8am. "Goodnight Bubba."</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_60GH4jePIg/UNyOhtA8VPI/AAAAAAAAIsQ/WYrsK9Tbcq4/s1600/iPhone+back+up+157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_60GH4jePIg/UNyOhtA8VPI/AAAAAAAAIsQ/WYrsK9Tbcq4/s400/iPhone+back+up+157.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Jack getting cookies for Santa</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fl_H8fZdmGc/UNyOwNH8v_I/AAAAAAAAIsY/aP7IlxkXWd8/s1600/iPhone+back+up+160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fl_H8fZdmGc/UNyOwNH8v_I/AAAAAAAAIsY/aP7IlxkXWd8/s400/iPhone+back+up+160.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Addie up at midnight and ready to play s'more.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VZ-NMPGrF3E/UNyPA9ymTcI/AAAAAAAAIsg/rVIr9ZrlOVs/s1600/iPhone+back+up+163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VZ-NMPGrF3E/UNyPA9ymTcI/AAAAAAAAIsg/rVIr9ZrlOVs/s400/iPhone+back+up+163.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Santa gifts plus gifts from Adam's family - all ready for the kids to wake up.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-utH1gQMQzb0/UNyPVLRXmQI/AAAAAAAAIso/R31yKFiGU38/s1600/iPhone+back+up+165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-utH1gQMQzb0/UNyPVLRXmQI/AAAAAAAAIso/R31yKFiGU38/s400/iPhone+back+up+165.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">"Baybay!"</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-73DJdQq4A14/UNyPp-H_2YI/AAAAAAAAIsw/i1HD_m15uQo/s1600/iPhone+back+up+171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-73DJdQq4A14/UNyPp-H_2YI/AAAAAAAAIsw/i1HD_m15uQo/s400/iPhone+back+up+171.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Happy Jack</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZfTHfK_skb4/UNyP11amFII/AAAAAAAAIs4/-rIfHDI90Xo/s1600/iPhone+back+up+180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZfTHfK_skb4/UNyP11amFII/AAAAAAAAIs4/-rIfHDI90Xo/s400/iPhone+back+up+180.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">A very Merry Christmas morning</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tQF4C2XYgCE/UNyP-1kSXmI/AAAAAAAAItA/YnmjYblbBFA/s1600/iPhone+back+up+184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tQF4C2XYgCE/UNyP-1kSXmI/AAAAAAAAItA/YnmjYblbBFA/s320/iPhone+back+up+184.JPG" width="288" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Playing with my camera instead of toys</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7XMshbXPxg4/UNyQFnnXDLI/AAAAAAAAItI/lqUhikqs2uY/s1600/iPhone+back+up+185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7XMshbXPxg4/UNyQFnnXDLI/AAAAAAAAItI/lqUhikqs2uY/s400/iPhone+back+up+185.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Stockings for all&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #990000;">8 grandkids. My 3 are the last 3. :)</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-large;">Merry Christmas!</span><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-62882511585493475092012-12-17T12:06:00.002-08:002012-12-17T16:46:49.479-08:00Italy v. Holland<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There aren't many special needs parents out there that haven't read or at least heard about Holland. Holland is the place we all end up when we get off the plane... into the world of a child with special needs, when we thought we were traveling to Italy. We all thought we were going to &nbsp;get a typical child... and instead we get a child that is different than what we expected. We get a child that is equally wonderful but not what we had prepared for... or researched. And the poem (though really not a poem per se) talks about how we eventually will get used to Holland but will always wonder what would have happened if we, indeed, landed in Italy. (read a copy if you are interested in more than my awkwardly paraphrased version&nbsp;<a href="http://www.our-kids.org/Archives/Holland.html" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;)</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I, too, read this essay when pregnant with Addie. I have since developed a soft spot for tulips and quit reading any of the travel guides for a typical child. But a funny thing happened on the way to Holland -- at least, for me.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I started to realize that none of my children are Italy. Yes, I was blessed with two healthy children. Yes, I had the fortune to deliver my boys and have them room in. I didn't have to prepare for separation from them in their first first days of life, I didn't have to use a mechanical cow I called Bessie to provide them with breast milk for nourishment. I didn't have to sign consent for them to have brain surgery on their first day of life. I didn't have to leave them at the hospital when I was released to go home. I am not saying that I was not blessed to have two "typical" birth experiences, because I was. And it is my sincere hope that every parent would experience that part of &nbsp;'Italy' at some point.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But to say that I have ended up in this magical place that I had planned for my whole life, that it's turned out exactly like what I had meticulously planned... well that would be a lie.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You see, no child is alike. No parent's destination is the same. No one can prepare for what their children will become. Yes, some children may follow this mythical ideal path of perfect behavior, attendance, grades, hair, etc. They may marry the quarterback of the college football team on their way to Harvard Med. &nbsp;But to say that every child... every child ends up in either one of two places... <br />that's just not how it works.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have three very different children. And yes one of them is considered special needs. But I wouldn't put the other two firmly in the Italy category. On the flip side, I hesitate to put Addie in the Holland category either. Yes, she has hydrocephalus and seizures, and yes she has more doctor's appointments than most kids, but she's developmentally typical for her age. Could she develop more delays as she ages? Of course... but what child couldn't?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are the kids that suffer TBI when they are 3 years old from being run over by a car firmly in the Holland category? Not in my eyes, they aren't. Are the kids that are in general education curriculum but have a diagnosis of ADD or speech issues only firmly in Italy?</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Why do we try to lump children into categories?&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My children, I have decided, are from France, Germany and Norway. And that's ok.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And maybe those aren't places I set out to go. Maybe those aren't places anyone sets out to go. Maybe there are people that want to go to Italy and actually do arrive in Italy, and that's ok. Maybe there are people that didn't plan where they were going, so they would know only when they arrived where they were.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I guess my point is this - no child, no matter their diagnosis, is the same. Every newly diagnosed hydro mom I talk to (and yes I did the same thing) wants to know what my child will be like. And there are no answers to that. No hydro child is the same. But guess what? NO CHILD is the same. I couldn't have told myself at 23 years old what Grayson would be like, and I couldn't have known or predicted Jack's abilities either.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">None of us know what or where we are going to end up. And maybe we should stop trying to predict it. Maybe we should just enjoy the journey. And we'll know where we end up once we get there.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Life is short. Children are precious. Love is the most important thing.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Holland v Italy?</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Does it really matter?</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't think there are many parents out there, at least not one that would bother to contemplate these things in the first place, that would say it matters. We LOVE our children. All of them. I love my special needs child as much as I love my gifted child. I love my child that has speech issues as much as my child that has ADD. I love them. They are mine. I didn't go to Italy... I didn't go to Holland. I didn't go anywhere but where I was meant to be. And we should all take comfort in that.&nbsp;</span>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-27158448193368712422012-12-13T06:52:00.001-08:002013-03-17T08:32:24.830-07:00Appointments and Seizures, oh my!<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm happy to say Addie had her last (scheduled) doctors appointment of 2012 yesterday. We've seen the eye doc twice, neurologist, neurosurgeon, ent, physical rehab and pediatrician once and the orthotist twice all since October. Whew. Glad to be done for a while.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The pediatrician was thrilled with Miss Addie. She said she's the most amazing (medically) thing she's ever seen. That she is just like a typical 18 mth old. Praise God! I knew she was doing well but hearing that from our pedi was awesome!!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now if we can just figure out these pesky things called seizures. :( Addie had another seizure on Friday the 7th. Just like the last one. In her sleep, before awakening. I heard her through the baby monitor and asked Jack to go talk to her until I could come get her. He came back and said "mom, somethings wrong with Addie. She's going sniff sniff sniff sniff," I immediately knew what was wrong and ran into her room. Saw her convulsing and went for the diastat pen. I knew based on how she had been discovered that it had already been 3 mins so I immediately picked her up and put her on her changing table. I prepared the pen and administered the gel. Adam was home, thankfully, and he had hung up on his conference call and was standing by her side, talking to her. I left them to go find a cell phone to time how long the diastat took to work. We had instructions from neuro that if it lasted longer than 3 mins to call an ambulance. Thank God it was over almost before I could start the stop watch on the phone. We let her lay on her changing table. She was moaning and moving a lot more than she did the first time. Adam lifted her on the changing pad and carried her into our room. I sat with her on our bed while Adam made breakfast. I called Neuro and left a message with the nurse and then texted pt to cancel, called my mom and sister. All never leaving her side.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jack was awesome. He told me he had tried to rub her back when he found her but it didn't help. He's such an awesome big brother and has wonderful instincts to come tell me when something is wrong. Now that we know Addie officially has a seizure disorder, I won't be putting Jack in the position of finding her in bed seizing again. So far, that is her pattern. </span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie slept for quite a while but was fighting the meds a lot sooner than she did in Orlando. From what I can tell, she had a lot shorter seizure and because she didn't have to have double doses of meds, it didn't seem to knock her for as big of a loop. She started trying to roll over to her belly a lot sooner, which made me smile. That's when I know she's sleeping more than knocked out. </span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are trying our best to process this new development. I really thought her seizure in Disney was a vacation fluke. But it's happened again, at home, in our normal routine, not out in heat and humidity, and I've been making sure she's been getting plenty of sleep. The only thing I can find that connects the two events is the lack of drinking. We put Addie back on the bottle after her seizure in September. And she just weaned herself again last week. Right before her seizure.&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She just doesn't drink as much out of a sippy or out of a cup as she does from a bottle.</span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I can't help but wonder if this is connected. So time (hopefully) will tell. I pray that she's goes even longer before the next one. We are taking precautions on our end to better hear her in the night and see her to check on her. We have filled more diastat pens to be ready. She has a follow up neuro appt in January to come up with a seizure plan.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She's back to her cute self and we thank God every day that she wakes up smiling. She has several new words - is probably up to 25 now. At her pedi visit yesterday she weighed 31 lbs and was 34 1/2 inches long. Crazy!!! Her head circ is up to 53 cm. </span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We've been busy with holidays and Christmas shopping! Life goes on. Hopefully my next update will be more fun filled!!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Blessings~</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aimee</span>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-4465028775914968062012-11-21T10:41:00.000-08:002013-03-17T08:34:42.320-07:00Medical Catch up<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">November has been a busy one medically speaking! Miss Addison turned 18 months old yesterday!! I can't believe it! She's officially closer to 2 than 1. AHHHH!!! Time is speeding along. We are so blessed that we have a healthy 18 month old little girl walking around getting.into.everything!</span></div><br /><br /><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-iQhLnI74szM/UK0fR057nzI/AAAAAAAAIjM/fW7n79Yt2PA/s1600/blogger-image--2130411597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-iQhLnI74szM/UK0fR057nzI/AAAAAAAAIjM/fW7n79Yt2PA/s400/blogger-image--2130411597.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie had difficulty sucking the extra thick milkshake through the straw, so she just removed the lid and stuck her face in!! 18 months old !</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because Addie is now 18 months old, this means she was due for a bunch of six month follow up from all her one year appointments.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Over the last six weeks ish, Addie has seen her physical rehab doctor (think a PT but with a MD), her ophthalmologist at least three times in the last six weeks, her neurologist for a follow up EEG from her seizure in September, her neurosurgeon and an orthopedic tech. She still has another ophthalmologist appointment, ENT appointment and an 18 month well baby appointment to go.</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wfl6442BIjQ/UK0gRZpkJZI/AAAAAAAAIjc/xACyLPSP5Us/s640/blogger-image--2080060986.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Getting fitted for her brace</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wfl6442BIjQ/UK0gRZpkJZI/AAAAAAAAIjc/xACyLPSP5Us/s640/blogger-image--2080060986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Physical rehab doc that we saw back at the spasticity clinic (<a href="http://youjustmightfindyougetwhatyouneed.blogspot.com/2012/04/blog-post.html" target="_blank">post here</a>)&nbsp;in April was very pleased with her progress and thrilled to see her walking around. She did want to get Addie fitted with an SMO brace for just her weaker foot. Her apparent leg length discrepancy seemed to have increased so Addie needs a slight lift on her left leg (1cm) and since we were doing the lift, the doc felt we might as well try to help her not crunch her toes when she walks and stop the slight pronating. So we followed up with an ortho tech, had that fitted and got it in last week.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are still working our way up to wearing it for 4-6 hr stretches. We ended up buying her two separate pairs of shoes to wear with the brace because the braced foot is much larger than her unbraced foot. 3 shoe sizes different. So we bought two pairs of knock off crocs and she wears those with her brace. She doesn't have to wear the brace all the time, it's only for when she's walking. So she wears it at home and then when we go out she just wears her regular shoes because she's in her stroller or car seat the majority of the time. &nbsp;Aunt Missy (thanks Aunt Missy!) bought Addie a pair of wee squeaks to wear when we are out. She had just gotten her TOMS in August and they were 5s. Her wee squeaks are 8s! Holy big foot batman! She gets it honest but man that's a lot of foot growth !!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Pvi8EbHHlIw/UK0gTPVtyqI/AAAAAAAAIjs/nwVMuRizSsQ/s640/blogger-image-1087118203.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Exploring Dr. R's office (the eye doc)&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;">Ophthalmology is still not quite sure what is going on with Addie's eyes. We have a new diagnose of sixth nerve palsy but her NSG isn't quite convinced of that dx. So we are still waiting and seeing. We are still trying to get her to wear her glasses and we have switched from patching with an eye patch (that she just rips off) to chemical patching by dilating her good eye.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Neurology was an adventure! They ordered an EEG to follow up from the seizure in Orlando. It was a slightly sleep deprived (she had to miss her morning nap) one and I got to hold her onto the bed during the 20 mins test. She was not happy. Momma and baby were tired! But we made it through it. I think she's the cutest EEG mummy head ever!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span> <a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-t4_hIJl3zTE/UK0gT7plPmI/AAAAAAAAIj0/StkZXWHF59w/s640/blogger-image-1894724406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-t4_hIJl3zTE/UK0gT7plPmI/AAAAAAAAIj0/StkZXWHF59w/s640/blogger-image-1894724406.jpg" /></span></a><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr. K came in shortly after and told us the EEG was normal. Normal! PTL! The EEG in Orlando had shown some slowing on the left side &nbsp;but Dr. K felt it was a result of the seizure, not her normal baseline. Because her EEG was normal, he doesn't want to start her on preventative seizure meds. He said to carry the diastat everywhere, which we do, and that obviously the biggest concern was the length of time the seizure lasted. We don't know if/when it will happen again so we will always have to be prepared. We discussed the possible triggers and he concurs that it was most likely a vacation perfect storm and that we are doing the best thing by keeping her hydrated and rested and being super aware of her schedule and routine now. It's a balance of real life and keeping Addie safe. But so far, so good, thank the Lord! Dr. K doesn't want to see us again... until we need him. Praying we won't need him for a long, long time.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr. George's (neurosurgeon) appointment went well. Addie hadn't seen him since May, so a lot of changes and growing for our girl since then. Dr. George was happy to see her and I think she was happy to see him. Her scans looked good, for Addie, and we were sent on our way with instructions for a six month follow up. See <a href="http://youjustmightfindyougetwhatyouneed.blogspot.com/2012/11/gratitude.html" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;for pictures from her appt with George. &nbsp;Which I scheduled for 4 days before she turns 2. Which is crazy to think about!</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0UGLO1FgPdY/UK0lecg40sI/AAAAAAAAIk8/Xz0IyJsXjJw/s1600/Addie+FAMRI++Nov+15+2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0UGLO1FgPdY/UK0lecg40sI/AAAAAAAAIk8/Xz0IyJsXjJw/s400/Addie+FAMRI++Nov+15+2012.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Miss Addie has her six month eval with ECI next week and we are switching her back to PT with ECI instead of with the private clinic we were with. There was an issue with insurance and the way I thought it was going to be billed v. the way it was actually billed so we had to make the switch back. We have enough medical bills we can't avoid... I felt like it was pretty logical to avoid the ones we can avoid. We enjoyed our time at the clinic based PT but honestly it was a bit too much to fit in with her nap schedule. It was also less flexible to reschedule a visit when we had a stomach bug or the PT herself was ill. So I'm happy with our experiment of pulling her into clinic based but am relieved to be going back to ECI. </span><br /><br />Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-28616763533356071532012-11-15T16:48:00.000-08:002012-12-13T08:16:42.785-08:00Gratitude<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today I sat in an exam room at a doctor's appointment, waiting for the doctor to knock gently on the door and exam my child. I sat there and watched my almost 18 month old daughter walk around the room, getting into anything and everything she could. She tried to take the garbage bag off the trash can, and tried to unplug the computer underneath the desk. She tried to crawl up into the chair and after a little bit of help, she stood up in the chair, and looked out the window at the cars driving by below.&nbsp;</span><br /><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This may sound like an average run of the mill doctor's appointment to many parents, but to me it was a milestone. A moment I will not likely forget for the rest of my life.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was sitting back in THAT room. The room that we first talked to a pediatric neurosurgeon about my yet to be born daughter's brain or lack thereof. I sat in the SAME chair that I had sat in that day, 33 wks pregnant and scared to death. I looked at the same doctor, sitting on the same stool, that had told me we wouldn't know what hydrocephalus meant for our child for some time coming. That he was our GPS navigation system and we were embarking on a journey. A journey filled with unknowns and possible bumps in the road but that it was his job to guide us along the way. That he was like a family relative that you (hopefully) only see at a reunion once a year but that if you need them more often, he'd be there.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I sat in that same room TODAY and watched my nearly 18 month old daughter walk around the room. <span style="font-size: x-small;">The.same.room.</span> It was a surreal, poignant moment. Watching her walk around, playing in the very room that we sat down and discussed her condition not so long ago. That we discussed what chances she had to walk, talk, eat or even breathe.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After her neurosurgeon walked in, my daughter walked over to the man that had saved her life, not once but twice, and climbed into his lap. This is not her normal behavior. &nbsp;She doesn't climb into her neurologist's lap, or ophthalmologist or even her pediatrician's. But this man... her neurosurgeon, she <i>remembers</i>.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She sat in his lap, playing with his beard and they had a quiet moment. And I sat back and watched. Thankful... that I am back in that room with a healthy, beautiful little girl that amazes me every day. Thankful that I am on this side of the journey and that we know a little more where we are going. Thankful for Dr. George that he has navigated us this far and will continue to do so for years to come. Thankful that I am able to witness a miracle <span style="font-size: large;">every </span>single day outside of THAT room. Thankful to be the mom of my baby girl.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-qzX8iy7NT2Q/UKWNNuv-2CI/AAAAAAAAIhw/pNUVMwyrmX8/s640/blogger-image-1392724481.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-qzX8iy7NT2Q/UKWNNuv-2CI/AAAAAAAAIhw/pNUVMwyrmX8/s400/blogger-image-1392724481.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-jKaTRTfSQRw/UKWNOeDfFiI/AAAAAAAAIh4/2EeTCwtcVuY/s640/blogger-image--1850493470.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-jKaTRTfSQRw/UKWNOeDfFiI/AAAAAAAAIh4/2EeTCwtcVuY/s400/blogger-image--1850493470.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-MP1zl31JO98/UKWNO0TkOtI/AAAAAAAAIiA/AVhZ27saeRE/s640/blogger-image-701238163.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-MP1zl31JO98/UKWNO0TkOtI/AAAAAAAAIiA/AVhZ27saeRE/s640/blogger-image-701238163.jpg" /></a></div>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-48889277275311673722012-10-26T19:47:00.000-07:002012-12-13T08:29:26.489-08:00Disney Trip- Flying home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our last morning was a little rushed. We had to be on the bus to the airport by 9:30am and we wanted to let Addie sleep in as long as we could after her seizure ordeal, so we were packing up in a rush. We had packed up as much as we could the night before but there's inevitably little things here and there you can't pack til the last minute. We made our luggage call and sent out luggage away with the sky caps they have on site at the hotel, which was awesome. Cus we really didn't want to schlep all our suitcases on the bus and through the airport.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FPHZ2Hv2epI/UMkKPCvNYmI/AAAAAAAAIns/BOFvgViidWw/s1600/336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FPHZ2Hv2epI/UMkKPCvNYmI/AAAAAAAAIns/BOFvgViidWw/s320/336.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We stopped off for a few last pictures - the boys were especially excited to check out the Cars building. One thing we didn't have time to do this trip was explore the other areas of the resort. So we took a quick look around the Cars section on our way to the bus.</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OsmCztF0R44/UMkKhYOH-XI/AAAAAAAAIn0/36TDxlz3c0c/s1600/338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OsmCztF0R44/UMkKhYOH-XI/AAAAAAAAIn0/36TDxlz3c0c/s320/338.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie in her University of Texas inspired dress - made by Aunt Missy - on the way to the bus.&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qWEuJ0pReYo/UMkKwlJBSZI/AAAAAAAAIn8/vePhr3vk-jw/s1600/344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qWEuJ0pReYo/UMkKwlJBSZI/AAAAAAAAIn8/vePhr3vk-jw/s320/344.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Grayson got a new hat with his souvenir money from Memaw. He looks so old in this picture!</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BudXaAuxIqA/UMkLBQGiIuI/AAAAAAAAIoE/-HFSZZQt7U8/s1600/345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BudXaAuxIqA/UMkLBQGiIuI/AAAAAAAAIoE/-HFSZZQt7U8/s320/345.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jack and Jackie waiting for the bus.</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CpbbfU-tPwA/UMkLR6D9z6I/AAAAAAAAIoM/qlfbaqB2Eo8/s1600/357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CpbbfU-tPwA/UMkLR6D9z6I/AAAAAAAAIoM/qlfbaqB2Eo8/s320/357.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A photo tradition for us is to always take a picture in front of this fountain in the airport right before we go through security to leave.&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MnsbXrbZuxc/UMkLZb16zPI/AAAAAAAAIoU/2ABZe5DNIjc/s1600/October+iPhone+back+up+104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MnsbXrbZuxc/UMkLZb16zPI/AAAAAAAAIoU/2ABZe5DNIjc/s320/October+iPhone+back+up+104.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie squeaked around the airport in her Wee Squeaks. She enjoyed looking out the big windows.</span></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2NP5G2pP0F4/UMkLixTxTII/AAAAAAAAIoc/9e-Uf8hObOc/s1600/October+iPhone+back+up+110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2NP5G2pP0F4/UMkLixTxTII/AAAAAAAAIoc/9e-Uf8hObOc/s320/October+iPhone+back+up+110.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On our layover in Houston, we ate at Pappas Burgers and Jack ordered a hot dog. It was as big as he is!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The ride home was bittersweet. Our vacation had been both magical and terrifying. I admit to holding my breath the whole way home. Flying on an airplane with a child that just had her first ever seizure was scary. Thank God we got home safely and Addie didn't have a seizure the whole day.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We arrived home and went our separate ways. It was good to be home.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866606521758487529.post-43111743140279540182012-10-22T10:08:00.000-07:002012-12-13T08:16:05.617-08:00Disney Trip - DHS Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After our wonderful night spending together as a family, eating at 'Ohana and watching football back at the room, we decided we would try to go into the park for just part of the day. It was still hot, but we had a game plan. We let Addie sleep in as long as she could and then we would head straight from the room to the bus to our lunch reservation, walking along the shops to keep Addie in the A/C. &nbsp;After lunch, we rode a few rides, taking our time so we could walk inside more than outside. We bought Addie a mister fan and made sure she was drinking all the time. We had a plan and we were all watching her like a hawk!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QyBIXrN35Dg/UKRpAf040PI/AAAAAAAAIfc/3fv3nLeHCVc/s1600/215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QyBIXrN35Dg/UKRpAf040PI/AAAAAAAAIfc/3fv3nLeHCVc/s320/215.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One last park bus line</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ip5NcgFhrmI/UKRpQ7LGLfI/AAAAAAAAIfk/jtqKXwNcXIY/s1600/217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ip5NcgFhrmI/UKRpQ7LGLfI/AAAAAAAAIfk/jtqKXwNcXIY/s320/217.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The boys got tired of me taking pictures but I felt like I had to make up for lost time since it was our last day</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FfZYGdD2PyU/UKRphAtZe-I/AAAAAAAAIfs/KsUia0JV_-w/s1600/222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FfZYGdD2PyU/UKRphAtZe-I/AAAAAAAAIfs/KsUia0JV_-w/s320/222.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Waiting for our name to be called at 50s Prime Time Cafe&nbsp;</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M7nkaS5BZq4/UKRpxRhUO1I/AAAAAAAAIf0/SSlU3_w2BWY/s1600/232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M7nkaS5BZq4/UKRpxRhUO1I/AAAAAAAAIf0/SSlU3_w2BWY/s320/232.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A photo op with the Incredibles</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JmSBL94j8IE/UKRqCM9kU9I/AAAAAAAAIf8/xZlDS_lh_gg/s1600/236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JmSBL94j8IE/UKRqCM9kU9I/AAAAAAAAIf8/xZlDS_lh_gg/s320/236.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Posing in front of the Roger Rabbit Car</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IflRFj79hIc/UKRqSJiZq5I/AAAAAAAAIgE/utlQoHIaL1M/s1600/239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IflRFj79hIc/UKRqSJiZq5I/AAAAAAAAIgE/utlQoHIaL1M/s320/239.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Addie and I sitting on the Roger Rabbit car- I have several pictures of me sitting on this car over the years.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0ajY7i7teQ/UKRqh6I_F5I/AAAAAAAAIgM/3B-CHoOsCVE/s1600/250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0ajY7i7teQ/UKRqh6I_F5I/AAAAAAAAIgM/3B-CHoOsCVE/s320/250.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We rode a few rides but saved the best for last... Tower of Terror</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vcxa_wk0WCs/UKRqyS5DowI/AAAAAAAAIgU/hzC0CN98Ttk/s1600/254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vcxa_wk0WCs/UKRqyS5DowI/AAAAAAAAIgU/hzC0CN98Ttk/s320/254.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was Jack's first time on this ride.... he was shaking the entire time and then when he got off said it was the best ride ever!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YMXIJRW87uc/UKRrAPoKcCI/AAAAAAAAIgc/XEA8zUANERk/s1600/260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YMXIJRW87uc/UKRrAPoKcCI/AAAAAAAAIgc/XEA8zUANERk/s320/260.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One last shot of our family of five as we were leaving the park for the last time&nbsp;</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xaf_1pSx8cQ/UKRrO-5ZHmI/AAAAAAAAIgk/DsYeefygsc0/s1600/275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xaf_1pSx8cQ/UKRrO-5ZHmI/AAAAAAAAIgk/DsYeefygsc0/s320/275.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the bus on the way back to the room. The thing we noticed that was affected the most by Addie's seizure was her eye alignment. You can really see it in this picture.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25ohXr5eWkk/UKRrdTJ6vNI/AAAAAAAAIgs/TREEo6R-OY4/s1600/314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25ohXr5eWkk/UKRrdTJ6vNI/AAAAAAAAIgs/TREEo6R-OY4/s320/314.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After we got back to the room we decided to get a big pizza from the food court and go back to the room and watch Monday night football! Addie escaped out the hotel room door and was&nbsp;walking&nbsp;up and down the hallway.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We watched football, ate pizza and started the packing up process. We had a 9am appt with bell services to catch our bus back to the airport. We turned in early and let Addie sleep as much as she could because she had to be up in time to make the plane!</span></div>Aimeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647876844392702484noreply@blogger.com0